3i and ABN AMRO Support NeuTec Pharma

3i in February announced it had led a GBP7.3 million (ecu 11.2 million) funding round for NeuTec Pharma in a private placing sponsored by Hoare Govett Corporate Finance.

This leading-edge biotechnology company, which spun out of a University of Manchester research programme in 1996, specialises in the development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of bacterial infections that are restistant to conventional antibiotics, an issue which is currently giving rise to growing public concern.

NeuTec aims to fight life-threatening diseases by developing therapeutics that mimic the body’s own defence system.

Professor James Burnie, Professor of Medical Microbiology at the University of Manchester, heads the management team. NeuTec Pharma’s chairman is Tony Martin, a former managing director of British Biotech and Celsis.

In this funding round, 3i Manchester provided GBP5 million alongside ABN AMRO Bank International Venture Capital.

Commenting on the deal, Professor Burnie said “Our strategy is to carry out clinical trials on NeuTec’s first three products as quickly as possible with a view to developing links to pharmaceutical companies for future commercialisation. The funding from 3i and ABN AMRO is clearly vital to achieving our objectives”.