Bristol-based eXmoor is an expert cell and gene therapy (CGT) services company that has just bagged £12 million in funding from MVM Partners, a specialist healthcare investment firm. This investment marks a key milestone in the company’s international growth strategy.
Plans new dedicated CGT facility
The investment will let eXmoor focus on its ambitious expansion plans. It also intends to create a dedicated 50,000 sq ft CGT process development and clinical manufacturing unit in Bristol. This facility will be designed in-house by eXmoor’s highly experienced Capital Projects team led by Director Gavin Sutton.
The facility will increase capacity for process development as well as add early phase clinical good manufacturing practice (GMP) for cell therapies, viral vectors, and gene therapies. Also, it will help eXmoor grow and develop its Capital Project and Translation Consultancy teams. With the growth plans, the company expects to see a significant surge in job creation and intends to grow its team from 40 to 200 in five years.
Angela Osborne, founder and chief executive officer of eXmoor said: “MVM has a proven track-record working with healthcare and pharmaceutical organisations globally. This deal gives us a strong foundation for our future growth, not just in the UK and Europe but further into other international markets, particularly North America. CGT is such an important area in biomedical research and one that has the ability to treat, prevent and potentially cure diseases that affect people all over the world.”
Thomas Casdagli, partner at MVM, commented: “eXmoor is a pioneer in cell and gene therapy manufacturing and has one of the most experienced teams in all elements of translating CGT innovation into scalable and robust manufacturing processes. With this investment eXmoor now has the broadest and most flexible range of CGT services in the market.”
Appoints new executives
MVM based in London and Boston focuses on investing in high-growth healthcare businesses. Besides the investment, MVM partner Thomas Casdagli joined the eXmoor Board of Directors and Jack Tanaka joined as board observer. Also, MVM will hold a significant minority stake in eXmoor as part of the deal. Furthermore, eXmoor has formed a new senior leadership team and welcomes former CEO of McLaren Applied Technologies, Ian Rhodes, as Director of Consulting and Finance.
The investment comes at a critical time as the UK is a world leader in CGT research. Founded in 2004 by Angela Osborne, eXmoor will be able to help organisations commercialise the huge research base and provide additional manufacturing capacity particularly in the viral vector area, which is acknowledged to lack global capacity.
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