Nanovery hails 'milestone' £1.1 million funding boost

A life sciences company pioneering advanced disease detection and drug development has secured a £1.1 million funding boost to scale its innovative platform.

Nanovery, which specialises in RNA therapeutics, has received investment from Northstar Ventures and Smartlink. 

The backing includes £450,000 from the North East Innovation Fund, supported by the European Regional Development Fund, and £195,000 from the Northstar EIS Growth Fund, alongside £500,000 from Smartlink.

The business has also been awarded a grant via Innovate UK’s investor partnership programme.

Bosses at Nanovery say the funding will help advance “the growth and adoption” of its analytical platform, which simplifies and accelerates the testing process for RNA therapeutics – a new class of drugs with the potential to treat previously untreatable diseases, including certain cancers.

With the global RNA therapeutics market expected to exceed $20 billion by 2030, officials add Nanovery’s technology – which enables testing at very low concentrations using only standard laboratory equipment – could play a vital role in drug development, leaving the company well-positioned to become the go-to bioanalysis tool in this expanding sector.

Jurek Kozyra, chief executive, said: “Securing this investment is a significant milestone for Nanovery and positions us to make a real difference in how next generation drugs are developed and tested. 

“Nanovery’s technology makes the testing process simpler, quicker and more reliable. 

“And we couldn’t make it any easier: just add our nanorobots directly to the samples, measure fluorescence and get results.

“We’re thrilled by the growing enthusiasm from our investors, which is reflected in the bold strides we’re making to commercialise our technology with leading global industry players, including top pharmaceutical companies.”

Alex Buchan, investment director at Northstar Ventures, added: “The technology which Nanovery has produced is incredibly promising. 

“It can address real industry issues easily and cheaply in the fast-moving arena of diagnostics and drug development. 

“We have backed Nanovery from very early on, and are proud to support them in their work to develop novel therapeutics.”

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