Biotech firm to create jobs after £700k boost

NORTH East biotech firm Magnitude Biosciences is to create a number of new jobs after securing £700,000 funding through a number of investors and grant money.

- TOM KEIGHLEY

The Durham University spin-out which specialises in in vivo drug discovery - within living organisms - has raised the funds for development of its high-throughput screening (HTS) platform which is being used to find treatments for age-related conditions and other diseases.

Investment was led by Maven and its managed regional funds including NPIF II Maven Equity Finance, which is managed by Maven as part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II; the Finance Durham Fund, set up by Durham County Council and overseen by Business Durham, and support from existing investor Northstar Ventures.

The investment was also matched with grant funding from Innovate UK through the Investor Partnerships: Digital Technologies North East programme.

Magnitude plans to develop its WormGazer technology using the investment and says it will now create a number of highly skilled jobs in robotics, software engineering, and biological sciences at its NETPark, County Durham base.