UK biotech start-up secures £1.27M to revolutionise intracellular drug delivery through tumour targeted technology

A female-led preclinical biotech start-up Vitarka Therapeutics, focused on revolutionising the market for non-viral drug delivery technology, has raised £1.27M in equity from venture capital firm SOSV, the UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund (UK12S) and grant funding from Innovate UK.

Founded in 2021 by Dr Vineeta Tripathi, Vitarka Therapeutics is developing combination medicines using RNAi therapies and a non-viral drug delivery platform.  Their novel tumour-targeted platform technology, EndoPore, targets solid tumours and delivers therapeutics for intracellular targets.   

These new funds will accelerate the technology for pre-clinical validation, proving efficacy in fit-for-purpose disease relevant animal models. The development plan will also progress towards pharmacokinetics studies and improving technical processes for large-scale manufacturing. 

Dr Tripathi has more than 15 years’ experience in drug development, including at Boehringer Ingelheim and Ipsen Bioinnovation. Professor Peter Simpson who was the founding CSO of Medicines Discovery Catapult, UK’s Centre for Excellence, has joined Vitarka’s team as Chief Strategy Officer.

Vitarka Therapeutics is rapidly carving out a strong reputation in its field and it was the only UK company successfully selected on the 5th cohort of the SOSV’s IndieBio New York program IBNY5.

In its first six months, Vitarka raised £250,000 from non-dilutive funding and backing from Discovery Park’s investment fund, Discovery Park Ventures.

Dr Vineeta Tripathi, CEO of Vitarka Therapeutics said, “It has just been a year since we defined our product so to raise such a substantial amount within this timeframe is remarkable.  

“Our new investors bring a range of complementary expertise to Vitarka and we are delighted to be working with them.  We thank them, together with Innovate UK, for all their support.”

Stephen Chamber, Partner and MD of IndiBio New York, part of SOSV said “At IndieBio, we look for companies that want to make a difference in the world and have the passion and skills to deliver on their dreams, and we found that in abundance with Vitarka Therapeutics.. 

"We are excited about this investment as it represents a unique opportunity to contribute to the advancement of medical treatments and improve patient outcomes. The RNAi and non-viral drug delivery space is full of untapped potential, and we are confident that Vitarka’s unique approach will unleash the full power of this emerging class of therapeutics. We are thrilled to continue supporting Vitarka and look forward to being a part of their growth and success."

Hassan Mahmudul, Investor, UKI2S and Future Planet Capital added:

“Delivering RNA therapeutics into the right tissues without off-target toxicity is a major problem faced by the Pharma industry. That is why we are excited to back Vitarka and their unique approach to drug delivery. Their development of a novel platform technology has the potential to provide a solution which safely combats tumours and we look forward to continuing our partnership with them”. 

ENDS

About Vitarka Therapeutics

Vitarka Therapeutics is a pre-clinical biotech company focused on revolutionising intracellular drug delivery by developing EndoPore, a novel tumour-targeted platform technology using pore forming proteins. RNA therapeutics have the potential to target 90% of the druggable proteome and bring benefits to patients and their families.

Their combination therapeutics aim to activate the immune system and normalise the tumour vasculature, using state-of-the-art proprietary technologies.

The company was founded in 2021 by Dr Vineeta Tripathi who has more than 15 years’ experience in drug development, including at Boehringer Ingelheim and Ipsen Bioinnovation.

About SOSV

SOSV is a global venture capital firm that offers multi-stage investment, starting with pre-seed start-up development programs designed for founders with breakthrough technologies. With more than $1.5 billion in assets under management and more than 300 investments per year, including 100+ pre-seed rounds in new start-ups, SOSV is one of the most active venture investors in the world. Their industry-leading start-up development programs include HAX (hard tech), IndieBio (human and planetary health), and Orbit Start-ups (growth in emerging and frontier markets). SOSV’s core mission is to fund visionary, deep tech founders who aim to deliver a radically beneficial impact on human and planetary health. As of April 2022, their top 100 climate tech companies have an aggregate valuation of more than $11 billion and have raised $3.85 billion, while their top 100 health start-ups are valued at $5.7 billion with $1 billion raised. SOSV is consistently ranked by Pitchbook as a top investor in both categories.

About UKI2S

UKI2S is a national seed investment fund that nurtures innovative businesses to leverage private investment and grow jobs, recycling profits from the realisation of our investments into the next generation of impactful UK companies.

We invest in innovations emerging from the UK’s publicly funded science and knowledge base. We specialise in engineering, biology, defence & security, fusion energy, and help capitalise on UK public sector assets. Our investment decisions are based on both the potential societal impact of technologies and the potential for financial return.

Over the past decade and more, the fund has built a substantial track record of companies that between them have attracted over £700m of later stage investment. 

The fund is backed by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and other public bodies. It is independently managed by Future Planet Capital (Ventures) Ltd, the impact-led, global venture capital firm. 

The full list of the fund partners are:

• Animal and Plant Health Agency

• BEIS

• Dstl

• Government Office for Technology Transfer

• James Hutton Institute

• National Physical Laboratory

• UK Atomic Energy Authority

• UK Health Security Agency

• UK Research & Innovation