Locate Bio Ltd raises £9.2m venture capital
University Nottingham spin out Locate Bio Ltd has added £9.2m venture financing led by Mercia Ventures and Business Growth Fund to its £16.2m raised before.
Locate Bio said it will use the fresh money to finance a clinical study of LDGraft, a bone graft substitute containing a sustained-release formulation of recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2) for spinal fusion. The advanced drug delivery method is combined with an osteoconductive scaffold in LDGraft, which received an US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) breakthrough device designation last year. If test are successful, Locate Bio plans to use its proprietary protein encapsulation technology to deliver rhBMP-2 in other orthopedic indications.
CEO John von Benecke is is confident that , “this oversubscribed funding round underscores the significant investor confidence in the company’s vision and the potential of LDGraft to become the most relied-on bone graft substitute globally. The RESTORE clinical trial is an important step towards realising that ambition.”
For the UK MedTech company it’s the second larger venture financing round with the same investors following a £10m round in September 2021 bringing the money raised to £25.4m. Locate Bio’s Instructive Tissue Scaffolds™ are biomaterials which, through geometric clues are able to influence cell fate and healing, without the aid of drugs or exogenous stem cells. As bone is a slow-healing tissue type the company functionises its scaffolds with extended release molekules that advance the healing process such as BMP-2.
