Our Corporate team has worked closely with Blueberry Therapeutics for a decade. The most recent transaction is an extension to its Series B fundraising with investment from Medical Incubator Japan and US Dermatology Syndicate.
The Client
Blueberry Therapeutics is a dermatology-focused drug discovery and development company focused on developing innovative nanomedicines for difficult to treat diseases of the skin and nail, with a lead candidate in Phase II development.
This recent fundraise is partly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has affected clinical trials globally, but primarily because of a series of pre-clinical successes during 2020, which have broadened the company’s drug portfolio. Blueberry Therapeutics will use the Series B extension proceeds to continue its development programme for BB2603 for the treatment of onychomycosis, a fungal infection.
BB2603 uses nanotechnology to greatly enhance delivery of medicine and is now in Phase II clinical development. This new method of drug delivery will provide efficient results with a smaller dose that can avoid systemic side effects and patient monitoring requirements of oral administration of the drug.
The additional funding supports completion of the Phase II dose-finding study, ahead of Phase III clinical development in the US and EU for the treatment of onychomycosis.
Investment and Series B Fundraising
Medical Incubator Japan (MIJ) is an independent healthcare-focused venture capital company aimed at investing in early-stage life sciences companies across a broad range of innovations including drug discovery, digital health and medical devices. Its second fund launched in the summer of 2020, focusing on investments both in Japan and overseas.
Through its partnership with Bamburgh Capital, MIJ is particularly focused on identifying investment opportunities in the UK and its compelling opportunities to invest in innovative companies opening up world-class science, and supported by collaborative, informed and influential ecosystems. Japan is the third largest healthcare market in the world and MIJ will be able to help Blueberry Therapeutics access this important market.
“We are very pleased to be a shareholder in Blueberry Therapeutics and to be able to support the management team in its quest to deliver high value innovative medicines for patients suffering from a range of dermatological disorders, and we look forward to collaborating in the development of the Company’s products.” – Mr. Jun Katsura, President and Co-CEO of MIJ
“The team and I were impressed with the Blueberry approach and felt that the Blueberry technology was compelling enough to invest our own money in developing it further. BB2603 addresses a clinical problem that we have struggled to treat effectively for decades.” – Dr Omar Ibrahimi, Founding Medical Director at the Connecticut Skin Institute
“I am delighted to have MIJ, and Omar and syndicate as investors and I very much look forward to working with them on our plans for Japan and the US. This funding extension not only enables us to progress our main onychomycosis programme to the next stages of development, but it also enhances our relationships in the critically important Japanese and US markets” – Dr. John Ridden, Chief Executive Officer of Blueberry Therapeutics
Our input
In the ten years that we have been working with Blueberry Therapeutics, our team has advised the company with regard to its acquisition of certain assets from AstraZeneca and its subsequent fundraising activities. The team that worked on the transaction were Simon Wallwork, Rhian Owen, Mark Warburton, Sophie Fleetwood and Marie Readey.
Simon and Rhian are established specialists in life sciences and have a wealth of connections across the North West, namely Alderley Park, where Blueberry Therapeutics is based, and Sci Tech Daresbury.
If you have any questions or queries you’d like to talk through with our team, you can call us on 0161 969 3131 or fill in our contact form and one of the team will be in touch.