Uni spin-out FibroFind in 'exciting' acquisition

DRUG development firm FibroFind has been acquired by Vespa Capital in a move that could accelerate its international growth.

- TOM KEIGHLEY

The six-year-old Newcastle University spin-out was founded by professors Jelena Mann, Derek Mann, Fiona Oakley and Lee Borthwick and specialises in developing therapies for fibrotic diseases affecting the liver, kidney and lung, using pre-clinical testing models. FibroFind is helping to transform how new medicines are tested before reaching human trials.

The deal sees Prof Mann and Prof Oakley exit the business, which is focussed on the development of treatments that can prevent, slow down, or even reverse the condition where healthy tissue becomes damaged and is replaced with scar tissue. Patients with the thickened tissue can often suffer other illnesses.