Octopus Ventures and EQT Ventures invest to improve access to drugs in development for physicians and patients Former GlaxoSmithKline Chief Medical Officer appointed Chairman
Amsterdam & London, 9 January 2016: Founded to facilitate access to drugs in development for physicians and their patients, myTomorrows announces a €10m growth funding round, co-led by EQT Ventures and Octopus Ventures, with participation from existing investors Balderton Capital and Sofinnova Partners. Former GlaxoSmithKline Chief Medical Officer James Shannon has also been appointed Chairman of the supervisory board.
Currently active in 17 countries, myTomorrows saw there was a problem that needed solving in the way physicians and their patients could access investigational drugs, rendering potentially life-saving drugs out of reach. By applying technologies, myTomorrows has built a platform for doctors and patients seeking information on and access to investigational drugs, and drugs that have been approved by regulators in other countries. On the other side, myTomorrows offers drug developers a seamless turn-key solution for global early access programs to make their drugs accessible to those suffering from life threatening or debilitating diseases whilst gathering data.
With this funding, myTomorrows will further accelerate investments in technologies and talent in order to continue to unburden regulators, physicians and drug developers from the complex processes of providing access to investigational drugs for patients facing unmet medical needs.
Founder CEO Ronald Brus MD said, “We are delighted to have attracted backing from investors whose contribution will be well beyond simply finances. EQT Ventures has unparalleled marketplace experience - and in particular, we’re looking forward to working with Kees Koolen, who has incredible experience in disrupting existing markets through technology, both during his time running Booking.com and as an advisor to Uber. Plus the team at Octopus will help us in scaling the business, just as they did so successfully with Graze, Zoopla and Secret Escapes. With James Shannon taking the Chairman role, and the necessary funding now in place, myTomorrows is ready to accelerate the development of our technologies, the scaling of our platform to the US and Asia, as well as further growth in EU, LatAm & ME”.
Kees Koolen, Founding Partner, EQT Ventures, said: “myTomorrows is a great fit for EQT Ventures. It has the opportunity to genuinely disrupt an industry, and solve a problem which could change many people’s lives. The team has incredible drive and deep expertise across medicine, biotech and technology. In an era where information asymmetry has been removed by the internet, myTomorrows has created a digital marketplace connecting physicians with drug developers under the watchful eye of local regulators, in order to facilitate access to drugs that might otherwise be out of reach for patients who have run out of other treatment options. We look forward to supporting the team in its ambitions.”
Luke Hakes, Investment Director, Octopus Ventures commented: “We believe we have backed a world class team that has the experience and skill sets to push this business to the fore of the market. They are tackling a real problem with a real solution, which will genuinely have a positive impact on users’ lives. Health tech is a space Octopus has huge interest for, and it’s important that we get behind businesses like myTomorrows that can move the sector on and benefit the global healthcare of tomorrow.”
“Signalling regarding drug effectiveness will increasingly move to the real world setting with data sets coming from a wider range of patients than are normally included in typical clinical trials. myTomorrows changes the drug development model as we know it, for the better. The technology layers make searching and accessing investigational drugs a seamless process for physicians and their patients,” James Shannon MD.
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Notes to Editors:
About myTomorrows
myTomorrows provides tools to navigate global early access programs and over 300,000 ongoing and historic clinical trials. myTomorrows also facilitates access to a growing number of investigational drugs for physicians and their patients facing unmet medical needs. All in order to enhance data-driven decision-making and rational pharmacotherapy.
