Mercia Technologies invests £0.5m into medical firm Locate Bio

High-growth technology investor Mercia Technologies announced a new direct investment of £0.5m into Locate Bio on Tuesday.

The AIM-traded firm described Locate as a “specialist regenerative medicine and medical device” company based in Nottingham.

It said the Locate team had been working for more than a decade on developing a novel drug delivery system, ‘TAOS’, and associated gene editing technologies, ‘IntraStem’, with an initial focus on orthopaedic applications.

Locate’s lead product was a treatment for osteomyelitis, for which it had partnered with a “major” European medical device developer.

In addition, it was developing a product to precisely control bone growth - a significant clinical problem with a $7bn worldwide market.

Mercia said its investment would be used to further expand Locate's existing product portfolio as well as new product opportunities utilising its IntraStem technology.

The global regenerative medicine market was estimated to be worth $20bn, and was forecast to be growing at a compound annual growth rate of 26.0%.

Following the initial investment, Mercia held a 6.0% equity stake in Locate.

The board said the direct investment followed on from an initial investment by Mercia's third-party managed funds.

“The investment from Mercia is a strong endorsement of Locate's technology platform and pipeline of regenerative medicines,” said Locate chairman Dr Ian Wilding.

“These funds will enable us to conduct key preclinical studies to help consolidate our position as a next generation cell and gene therapy company.”

Julian Viggars, chief investment officer at Mercia Technologies, added that Locate demonstrated how Mercia could support the coupling of compelling, proprietary, university-derived technology with a strong team and clear market advantages developed within the Midlands, initially through its managed funds.

“The team at Locate has now successfully moved from the research and development phase to commercialisation,” Viggars said.

“We have been impressed by this transition and foresee considerable potential for delivering shareholder value in the medium term.”