Advent Ventures gains £100m

UK VC Advent Venture Partners has sold Thiakis, a spin-out of Imperial College, London which is developing drugs to combat obesity, to US group Wyeth Pharmaceuticals for around £20m up front with an additional £70m upon completion of certain milestones.

Thiakis’s main attraction is TKS1225, an analogue of the peptide hormone oxyntomodulin being studied for the treatment of obesity and the prevention and amelioration of associated conditions such as Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

The company was founded in 2004 with backing from Imperial Innovations, the AIM-listed technology commercialisation and investment company. Advent Venture Partners co-led the Series A round in 2006 alongside Novo and Innovations, with co-investment from Royal Society, and Esperante.