The Parkwalk-managed University of Bristol Enterprise Fund has joined parent IP Group to become an investor in macular degeneration-focused spinout Exonate.

Exonate, a UK-based macular degeneration medication developer based on research from the universities of Bristol and Nottingham, has obtained an unspecified sum from the University of Bristol Enterprise Fund (UBEF) II. UBEF II is a co-investment vehicle managed by Parkwalk Advisors, the fund management arm of commercialisation firm IP Group. Founded in 2013, Exonate is working on a form of protein known as a vascular endothelial growth factor that could tackle angiogenic diseases such as age-related macular degeneration where the body is producing excess blood vessels. The proteins are also thought to have an analgesic effect and may offer protection for kidney and nerve cells. While Exonate will initially develop eye disease and cancer treatments based on its approach, it could also produce medications for severe pain as well as for eye, nerve and kidney symptoms associated with diabetes. The spinout commercialises work led by Stephen Harper, a professor at Bristol’s School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, and David Bates, professor of oncology at University of Nottingham. Jonathan Morris, an associate professor at University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, is now assisting Harper and Bates with their research. Exonate initially raised more than $640,000 in a 2013 seed round that featured Fusion IP, now owned by IP Group, which also took part in the round together with University of Nottingham and unnamed angel investors. The company obtained approximately $600,000 two years later from investors including Angel CoFund, before a $1.9m round in 2016 led by multi-university venturing fund Uniseed. UBEF took part in the 2016 round, along with Martlet of Cambridge, Angel CoFund, Wren Capital and O2h Ventures. Exonate has also received support from the government-owned British Business Bank, though further details could not be ascertained.

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