imphatec, a British synthetic biology pharmaceutical company, has closed an oversubscribed £1.5 million seed round led by SynBioVen, with angel investors also taking part. The startup is building a subcutaneous implant platform that delivers customisable doses for people living with chronic and long-term conditions. Investment will drive the next key development stages of imphatec’s implant platform and supports progress along the experimental pipeline towards the clinic.
Millions of patients with chronic and long-term conditions depend on daily medication that must be taken manually. The World Health Organisation estimates that around half of such patients experience non-compliance with their medication, where missed or irregular doses can have serious health consequences. Even when medication is taken as directed, current drug-delivery methods mean only a fraction of each dose is distributed effectively within the body.
imphatec’s platform is designed to address these issues by using subcutaneous implants that release medication into the patient over the long term, with no patient input or compliance required. The novel route of drug delivery is intended to improve the effective distribution of medication within the body. Medication doses released from the implants can be personalised to the requirements of individual patients. As a platform rather than a single product, the technology can be applied to a range of established medications for chronic conditions, supporting imphatec’s stated aim of a pill free future for patients burdened by manual daily medication.
According to SynBioVen, imphatec’s implant technology has important implications for the daily treatment of hypothyroidism, removing the need for patients to take daily medication for the condition. The implants are described as having the ability to provide patients with automatic uniform dosage. imphatec’s implants have previously progressed with success through pre-clinical experimental stages, and the new investment allows development of the technology towards full human clinical trials. SynBioVen highlights that, in the future, the core technology can potentially be modified for a wider range of clinical conditions to remove the need for daily pill usage.
The investment in this round, led by SynBioVen, will drive the next key development stages of our implant platform to treat chronic and long-term conditions. Our implants have previously progressed with success through pre-clinical experimental stages, and this investment will allow us to advance further along the experimental pipeline towards the clinic. SynBioVen brings a wealth of scientific expertise that will allow us to navigate through the upcoming stages of development as we look to modernise and improve options for patients suffering with chronic and long-term conditions.
The successful completion of imphatec’s seed round is an important step in the company’s development. The implant technology that they are developing has important implications for the daily treatment of hypothyroidism – removing the need for patients to take daily medication for the condition. imphatec’s implant technology has the ability to provide patients with automatic uniform dosage. The new investment will allow the company to proceed with the development of its technology towards full human clinical trials. It is anticipated in the future the core technology can be modified for a wider range of clinical conditions to remove the need for treatment requiring treatment daily pill usage.
