Synpromics Raises £5.2Million Of New Investment

EDINBURGH, Scotland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Synpromics Ltd, the leading synthetic promoter and gene control company, is pleased to announce that it has completed a financing round of £5.2M. Participants included existing investors Calculus Capital, the Scottish Investment Bank, the investment arm of Scottish Enterprise and private shareholders.

Synpromics has grown rapidly over the past two years as it expanded its portfolio of international customers. These include leading gene therapy companies and multinational technology corporations, most recently GE Healthcare.

The majority of the new investment will be used to further develop and exemplify Synpromics proprietary PromPT™ synthetic promoter design platform. PromPT™ enables the design of unique synthetic promoters which give precise control of gene function in many areas of gene medicine including gene therapy, cell therapy and gene editing. The Company is also preparing to move into a larger, new purpose built, facility.

David Venables, CEO of Synpromics, commented “Since our last fundraising round 18 months ago the business has grown rapidly as we’ve signed more commercial partnerships with companies in the US and Europe. We see an exciting opportunity to fund further rapid expansion of our business, supported by our innovative science and novel capabilities.”

Alexandra Lindsay, Investment Director at Calculus Capital, added “We have been delighted with the progress which Synpromics has made since we made our first investment some 18 months ago. They have a very strong team and the technology has been clearly validated through partnerships with some of the world’s leading gene medicine companies.”

Kerry Sharp, Head of the Scottish Investment Bank, said “Having supported Synpromics from an early stage it is great to see the progress that has been achieved to develop and grow the business in the highly dynamic synthetic biology industry. We look forward to continuing to work with the company, both from an investment perspective and through our account management support, to deliver its long term growth ambition.”

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Notes to Editors

About Synpromics

Synpromics is a private company focused on commercialising its proprietary technology in the emerging field of synthetic biology by developing customised synthetic promoters. The company has partnership deals with a number of gene therapy companies including AGTC, Adverum, and uniQure, and bioprocessing companies such as GE Healthcare and Sartorius-Stedim Celca.

Synpromics’ technology gives biological researchers, developers and manufacturers unprecedented control of gene expression through the ability to create a comprehensive portfolio of man-made DNA regulatory sequences.

Synthetic promoters are DNA sequences that do not exist in nature and are designed to regulate the activity of genes, controlling a gene’s ability to produce its own uniquely encoded protein. Currently, the biotech industry largely relies on naturally occurring promoters to drive protein production. However, natural promoters have evolved for biological functions within the context of the organism in question, and as such they were not purpose-designed for industrial or therapeutic applications. The technology developed by Synpromics allows for the design of synthetic promoters that are optimally tailored to drive gene expression at the desired level and specificity. The technology platform facilitates the creation of a large collection of distinct and relevant synthetic promoters for a diverse array of applications

For more information see www.synpromics.com

About Calculus Capital

Calculus Capital is a specialist in creating and managing private equity funds for individuals. A pioneer in the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) space, Calculus launched the UK’s first HMRC-approved EIS fund in 1999 and has gone on to launch 16 further funds and four VCT offers. Calculus seeks capital appreciation from dynamic, established, private UK companies across a multitude of sectors. Calculus prefers to invest £2m-£5m per company. As at January 2017 it had over £130m of funds under management.

Calculus Capital’s experienced investment team, diligent investment process and ‘hands on’ approach have resulted in an impressive track record of investment success. Calculus has won multiple awards including ‘Best EIS Fund Manager’ at the Growth Investor Awards 2016 and the EIS Association’s ‘Fund Manager of the Year’ Award in 2016, 2015, 2014, 2011 and 2009.

Calculus Capital is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

http://www.calculuscapital.com/

About the Scottish Investment Bank

The Scottish Investment Bank (SIB) is the investment arm of Scotland’s main economic development agency, Scottish Enterprise, operating Scotland-wide in partnership with Highlands and Islands Enterprise. It manages a suite of co- investment funds including the Scottish Co-investment Fund and the Scottish Venture Fund, which are partly funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), Renewable Energy Investment Fund and the Scottish Recycling Fund. SIB is the cornerstone investor in the privately-managed Scottish Loan Fund, managed by Maven Capital Partners and an investor in Epidarex Capital’s life sciences fund. SIB’s investment funds support Scotland’s SME funding market to ensure businesses with growth and export potential have adequate access to growth capital. SIB also provide a team of Financial Readiness specialists to help companies prepare for new investment and access appropriate finance.