North West Fund for Biomedical invests in Molplex
Firm will use establish a base in the North-West and progress ten early stage drug projects
Molplex, a drug discovery firm based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, has received funding of £350,000 from the North West Fund for Biomedical, which will be used to establish a base in the North-West of the UK.
Molplex has developed an automated decision making system using predictive chemistry and biology software to analyse decisions made by drug development professionals during the early stages of drug discovery and design. This process means that safer and better quality drugs could be developed at a fraction of the cost and faster than traditional research and development methodology.
The investment will be used to establish proof of concept with the current platform and complete further updates to the software. The money will help the firm progress ten early stage drug projects through laboratory synthesis and testing using its automated systems.
The European Regional Development Fund and the European Investment Bank have jointly financed the £25m North West Fund for Biomedical, which is managed by SPARK Impact.
David Leahy, chief executive of Molplex, said: ‘We would like to thank The North West Fund for Biomedical for supporting our transformation into the first of a new class of an ultra-effective drug discovery business.
‘Molplex's novel approach to the automation of drug discovery decision making can radically lower the cost of inventing new medicines, while increasing the quality of the new drug candidates. This funding creates an opportunity for us to convert that promise into reality.’
