Investment to respond to growth in demand for integrated services at UK drug delivery company BDD

Dylan MacdonaldArchangels

Backing to fund the further expansion of formulation and manufacturing capabilities underpinned by strategic senior appointments

Innovative Scottish-based drug delivery company, Bio-Images Drug Delivery Limited (BDD), has positioned itself for rapid growth with a further round of investment in its GMP* manufacturing capabilities alongside strategic recruitment to the senior leadership team and the Board of Directors.

The £1.2m investment, has been led by Edinburgh-based business angel investment syndicate, Archangels, supported by Scottish Enterprise and BioCity Investments. The funding will enable BDD to invest in senior hires and significantly expand its current GMP capabilities to support product development, manufacture of clinical trial supplies and for rapid GMP manufacture of products to support its SWIFT adaptive clinical trials service.

The new manufacturing and formulation capabilities will allow international pharma, biotech and consumer health companies, many of whom already work with BDD, to speed up the clinical evaluation of their products, resulting in a reduction in development time and costs.

BDD, which is based in Glasgow and Newhouse  BioCity Scotland, already works with many global  companies, outlicensing its proprietary OralogiK timed release technology, which enables the oral delivery of single, multi-dose or combination drugs at pre-determined times between one and 12 hours after being swallowed by the patient.

Carol Thomson, CEO of BDD, said:

“This is a very exciting time for BDD. We have always been recognised for our ability to provide rapid development and clinical proof of performance for new drug products. This growth allows us to build on that, providing a single centre comprehensive service from development through in vivo testing and provision of larger scale clinical trial supplies”

Sarah Hardy, Director and Head of New Investments at Archangels, said:

“BDD is a great example of home-grown innovation that is growing and diversifying its offering to respond to client needs, accelerating drug development.”

Jan Robertson, Director of Scottish Enterprise, said: “Safe and effective acceleration of clinical drug trials has never been more important.  In recent years, BDD has gone from strength to strength positioning itself as an important player in the marketplace. We’re pleased to participate in this latest funding round which will allow BDD to reinforce its leadership team and further enhance its manufacturing capabilities at this critical time.”

To support the new growth phase, BDD has appointed Dr Stephen Brown as a non-executive director. At the same time, Joanne Kelley has stepped up from her role as non-executive Director as the newly elected Chair of the Board.

Stephen Brown, has a strong pedigree in drug delivery and pharmaceutical product development and was previously CEO of privately held Encap Drug Delivery, leading the transformation of the business and ultimately its sale to Capsugel (KKR) until it was acquired by Lonza in 2017.   

Commenting on his appointment, Stephen said:

“I am very happy to be joining the excellent team at BDD. There are very few companies in the world that have such breadth and depth of formulation and drug delivery expertise across a range of dosage forms and the capability to evaluate clinically in real time under the same roof (adaptive clinical trial mode).

“Over the years BDD has proved to be a go-to partner for challenging oral drug delivery projects with a track record in bioavailability enhancement, controlled/sustained release, chronotherapy and targeted release.”

Joanne Kelley joined the Board at BDD in 2018 following a successful career at AstraZeneca where she was Vice President of Business Development, Head of Transactions responsible for a number of transformational deals. Since joining the Board at BDD, Jo has made a significant contribution to the development of the Company’s strategy and has actively supported the BDD team with the outlicensing of OralogiK.

Ends                                                                                                                       14th December, 2020

*GMP (Good manufacturing practice) describes the minimum standard that a medicines manufacturer must meet in its production processes. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) coordinates inspections to verify compliance with these standards and plays a key role in harmonising GMP activities at European Union (EU) level. (Source: EMA)

Further enquiries:

Callum Spreng                                                   Mob: +44 (0)7803 970103

Spreng Thomson                                               Email: [email protected]                                       

Notes to Editors

BDD

BDD Pharma Ltd is a privately-owned drug delivery company specializing in the development of modified and controlled release oral formulations, including its timed release platform technology, OralogiK.  BDD provides both development and clinical trial capabilities which enable rapid development and clinical testing of new pharmaceutical products.

For more information visit www.bddpharma.com.

Archangels

Archangels is a prominent business angel syndicate which has been at the forefront of early stage investing in Scotland for more than a quarter of a century. Its members invest in, and mentor, promising start-up and early stage companies from Scotland’s vibrant technology and life sciences sectors. Originally formed in 1992 and based in Edinburgh, the syndicate now comprises over 80 investor members and leads investment of around £10m per year in early stage Scottish companies, including leverage from partners, the largest being the Scottish Investment Bank.

Archangels is interested in Scottish technology companies that are looking for initial funding of £50,000 to £2m. In addition, Archangels is keen to welcome new investors to its syndicate.

Scottish Enterprise

Scottish Enterprise is Scotland’s national economic development agency. We’re committed to growing the Scottish economy for the benefit of all, helping create more quality jobs and a brighter future for every region.

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