Frontier IP Group, PLC (LSE:FIPP) portfolio company Amprologix has raised £740,000 in fresh funding to push forward work on a treatment for drug-resistant infections, including MRSA.
The cash will be used to complete pre-clinical work on the company’s lead candidate, epidermicin NI01, ahead of planned phase I human trials in 2026.
The fundraising was backed by angel investors, including Plutus Investment Group, alongside another unnamed institution and private individuals.
Plutus Venture Partner Dr Rita Dobmeyer will join the Amprologix board as a non-executive director and is expected to support clinical development.
The biotechnology company, which is developing next-generation antibiotics, is working with InClin, a global contract research firm, to help steer the project through the clinical stages.
Epidermicin NI01 is being developed to combat methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, a common cause of hospital and community-acquired infections that has become increasingly difficult to treat using existing antibiotics.
Amprologix is also in early-stage development of a second antibiotic aimed at tackling Clostridioides difficile, a bacterial infection that often occurs in people who have recently taken antibiotics and can lead to severe gastrointestinal illness.
It is one of several in the portfolio of Frontier, a London-listed group that helps commercialise university spinouts and intellectual property.
Its chief executive, Neil Crabb, said: “The World Health Organisation has identified antimicrobial resistant diseases as one of the top 10 threats to human health globally. I am therefore excited by the potential for Amprologix’s novel antibiotics in helping to fight this scourge.”
He added: “Research results to date have been highly encouraging, and I am delighted by the success of this funding round, which will play a vital role in taking epidermicin NI01 through to human clinical trials.”
Amprologix is positioning itself for a Series A funding round, which would typically involve a larger investment from institutional backers to support later-stage development.