Invizius – the Edinburgh-based biotech company developing breakthrough treatments for patients on dialysis – has raised £950,000 in a funding round led by Mercia Ventures and supported by Calculus Capital, Syensqo, the University of Edinburgh’s Old College Capital and Scottish Enterprise.
The latest investment will enable the company to prepare for the next stage of clinical trials of its H-Guard product and comes in the run-up to a Series B investment round early next year. H-Guard addresses the inflammatory responses that patients suffer during dialysis which can cause life-threatening complications including damage to organs and the cardiovascular system.
Inflammation occurs after the patient’s blood comes into contact with the surfaces of the machine, because the immune system sees the machine as a foreign body. H-Guard is flushed through the dialysis machine prior to treatment, coating all exposed surfaces to help prevent the immune reaction.
A ‘First in Human’ study earlier this year demonstrated its safety and tolerability and produced encouraging biomarker data. The new funding will be partly used to design a trial for the use of H-Guard in continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT), a type of dialysis used in cases of acute kidney injury in an intensive care unit (ICU), and will assess its impact in modifying the immune response and reducing renal tubule damage.
Invizius was founded in 2018 as a spin-out from the University of Edinburgh. The latest funding brings the total raised to date to over £13m.
Magnus Nicolson, CEO of Invizius, said: “We wish to thank our investors for their continued support to our company. The findings from our CompActHD study and the results of our First In Human trial earlier this year are extremely encouraging. This additional funding will help position the company optimally as it prepares for its Phase 2B trials and continues its research into additional patient benefits for its H-Guard technology.”
Natalia Blagburn, Portfolio Director at Mercia Ventures added: “Dialysis treatment can significantly reduce life expectancy for patients. The recent trials have indicated that H-Guard has potential to make a real difference. Having backed Invizius from its inception, we are pleased to continue supporting the team in their mission to save lives and improve outcomes for kidney patients.”