Mercia Fund Management is pleased to announce that Abzena Limited (‘Abzena’), formerly known as PolyTherics, has today announced its intention to proceed with an initial public offering and to seek Admission of its shares to AIM.
Abzena is focused on providing proprietary technologies and value-added services to enable the development of better biopharmaceuticals. The company comprises two wholly owned subsidiary businesses – PolyTherics and Antitope – which have established a broad suite of complementary services and technologies that are designed to improve the chances of successful development of antibodies and proteins with enhanced therapeutic benefits. Mercia was a founding investor in the University of Warwick spinout Warwick Effects Polymers (which was acquired by PolyTherics) and holds a board seat on the enlarged business. Mercia was part of the syndication that provided in total £13.5m in a funding round in July 2013.
Mark Payton, Managing Director of Mercia and board member, said: “We are truly delighted with how the management of Abzena have taken the business from strength to strength and that this company with operations across Coventry, London and Cambridge further validates our investment model of backing and supporting technology-rich, scalable ventures. Abzena represents a number of now maturing businesses within the Mercia portfolio and is our first investment to utilise the public markets to scale its growth.”
To read the full announcement from Abzena, please click this link. http://www.abzena.com/news/121/83/Abzena-Announces-Intention-To-Float.html