Mercia's Locate Bio receives another £2m of investment

The AIM-traded firm said Locate, based in Nottingham, had received £1.8m of direct investment from Mercia, with the balance coming from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund, which the group managed on behalf of the British Business Bank.

Mercia's direct equity stake was now 21.6%.

Locate was described by Mercia as a gene and cell therapy company developing a pipeline of next generation medicines, which utilised its proprietary technologies for non-viral gene therapy and cell therapy.

The company was currently expanding the application of its technologies - ‘IntraStem’ and ‘TAOS’ - into new therapy areas, beyond musculoskeletal, to provide further in-house development and partnering opportunities.

“Locate is in an exciting phase of growth and these new funds will allow us to further develop our non-viral gene therapy technology IntraStem while continuing to utilise our TAOS platform for cell delivery and other applications,” said Locate Bio chief executive officer Nick Staples.

“These next generation technologies overcome current industry challenges in the fast-growing gene and cell therapy fields, providing a major business opportunity for Locate.”

Peter Dines, chief operating officer and had of life sciences and biosciences at Mercia Technologies, added that Locate had continued to make “important” progress in developing its technologies.

“These proprietary technologies have the potential to address multi-billion pound markets in the exciting and fast-growing areas of gene and cell therapy.

“We look forward to continuing to support Nick and the Locate team move this cutting-edge technology forwards.”