Aquapharm Biodiscovery Ltd (Aquapharm), a UK based marine biotechnology company, is pleased to announce the completion of its latest round of investment financing of £4 million.

Leading the investment with £1.5M are the Amsterdam based VC fund, Aescap Venture which has over €100M under management. Co-investing along side Aescap are Tate & Lyle Ventures.  Further investments have also been made by existing investors Scottish Enterprise, NESTA Investments and HIE Argyll and the Islands (HIE AIE) to complete the £4million package. Patrick Krol, Partner of Aescap Venture and Simon Barnes, managing partner of Tate & Lyle Ventures will join the Aquapharm board.

Aquapharm, led by CEO Dr Andrew Mearns Spragg, was incorporated in 2000 and is based near Oban, Scotland, within the facilities of the European Centre for Marine Biotechnology (ECMB).  The company currently employs a team of 15 full-time staff and has commercial interests ranging from anti-infective drug discovery to the development of novel anti-oxidants for the nutraceutical and cosmeceutical markets. 

Dr Andrew Mearns Spragg, the CEO of Aquapharm said: "Completing this new investment is recognition by venture capital of the exciting advances made by the company over the past three years in the areas of anti-infective development and novel ingredients for functional foods and cosmeceuticals. It is another confirmation of the potential economic benefits that marine biotechnology holds for the development of new innovative natural products for the wellness of all of us."

Aquapharm builds value from developing new bioactive compounds derived from marine micro-organisms, with the aim to develop these as the next generation of bio-actives, with applications in a diverse range of sectors.With good access to diverse marine environments, Aquapharm has sampled ecological habitats ranging from shallow brackish waters to the cold oceanic depths.

By applying its proprietary technology the company has been able to culture previously unculturable microbes from collected samples and has built a substantial and specialised library of over 6,500 marine bacteria and fungi. By applying patented fermentation technology to its microbial library, based on key stress mechanisms within the micro-organisms, Aquapharm can achieve sustained production of important secondary metabolites within the culture system. This resulted in the discovery of a plethora of new chemical entities with interesting properties and immediate market application, including:

* Pharmaceutical compounds such as new antibiotics to tackle MRSA and C. difficile
* Novel bio-catalytic enzymes
* Cosmeceutical compounds (e.g. anti-oxidants and anti-ageing compounds)
* Carotenoids, Polymers, oligosaccharides and essential fatty acids (omega-3, DHA, EPA).

Mr Patrick Krol, partner of Aescap said: "The bio-diversity of the (deep) sea is an un-tapped treasure. Aquapharm is ideally suited to exploit this value with its top-tier team of scientists and commercially savvy management team."  

Dr Simon Barnes, Managing Partner of Tate & Lyle Ventures added: "Aquapharm has an excellent ability to develop natural marine-derived ingredients for a wide range of functional food applications and nutraceuticals. Aquapharm's focus on the sustainable production of ground-breaking bio-ingredients and the advancement of fermentation technology enjoys an excellent fit with our fund strategy."

Gerard Kelly, Senior Director of Scottish Enterprise Investments said: "We are pleased to be able to continue to support Aquapharm, investing alongside Tate & Lyle Ventures and Aescap who are both partners of the new Scottish Venture Fund, and E-synergy an existing Scottish Co-investment Fund partner. Aquapharm is a great example of a young and innovative growing Scottish technology company with significant potential which, with the support of the public sector, has been able to raise a substantial amount of local and international risk capital to help develop its products and market."

Area director for HIE A&I, Ken Abernethy said: "Aquapharm is a resounding success story for Argyll and the Islands. Andrew Mearns Spragg's dedicated research team are well placed to push the boundaries of this emerging science, and HIE A&I's investment is geared to keep this innovative company right at the forefront of research into the health-enhancing benefits of marine organisms.
 
"Aquapharm has profited from just a fraction of the ocean's reserves and we are extremely proud that the ECMB is the catalyst for this new phase of growth for the company. We are delighted to be making this investment in a sector which is bringing such high quality jobs into the Highlands."