Seedcorn Fund investment Syntopix floats on AIM

White Rose investee company Syntopix has floated on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM), raising £4 million from the sale of new shares.

Syntopix was founded by Dr Jon Cove and Dr Anne Eady, from the University of Leeds The company focuses on the discovery and development of drugs for the topical treatment of dermatological diseases. Its strategy is to seek to reduce the risks and costs associated with drug discovery and development by using known compounds in new combinations as well as working with compounds that have known properties, in particular for the dermatological market.

Syntopix was spun-out of the university Techtran Group, the university's commercialisation partner. Originally, the science underpinning the company was developed through £500,000 funding from the Wellcome Trust. In 2004, Syntopix received further capital of £180,000 through a consortium of regional investors comprising: the White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund, Techtran Group Ltd, the Viking Fund and business angels Dr Gwyn Humphreys and Dr Rod Adams. Its flotation on AIM is its third and largest funding round to date.

The proceeds of the AIM flotation will be used to further the company's work in the dermatology market, which has annual global sales of more than $10 billion and has traditionally suffered from a lack of product innovation. Syntopix currently has a growing patent portfolio and a pipeline of nine drug candidates for the treatment of acne and MRSA awaiting preclinical and clinical trials.

To date the White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund has invested in 19 spin-out companies from the Universities of Leeds, Sheffield and York. Syntopix is the first of these to have floated on AIM.

White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund Investment Director Joe Wiley says: “We're obviously delighted that Syntopix has taken this step, which will enable it to accelerate the development of the company and its products. Syntopix has considerable expertise in the field of skin disease therapeutics and an impressive range of products awaiting trial.”