LONDON (Alliance News) - 4D pharma PLC Wednesday said it has acquired a start-up company from University College Cork which is focused on investigating the use of microbiome signatures to aid the diagnosis and treatment of diseases.
4D pharma said it plans to immediately build on the research being conducted by the company, Tucana Health Ltd, and will invest in the platform and the building of further research capabilities based at the APC Microbiome Institute at University College Cork.
"Recent advances have highlighted the importance of the microbiome, not only for the development of safe and efficacious novel therapeutics, such as those developed by 4D pharma currently undergoing patient trials, but also in predicting the effectiveness or response rates of current therapeutics in areas such as cancer," said the company.
Initially, the focus will be on work on the diagnosis and patient stratification for irritable bowel syndrome. Longer term, the company will focus on building a diagnostic platform across multiple disease areas mirroring the programmes developed by MicroRx, 4D pharma's therapeutic platform.
The work will be continue to be led by Fergus Shanahan and Paul O'Toole, the founders of Tucana Health.
4D pharma said it will issue up to a total of 1.4 million shares in the company to satisfy the acquisition, with 410,603 shares to be issued immediately at a price of 755.0 pence per share. The remaining shares will only be issued once Tucana hits certain milestones.
4D pharma shares were trading up 2.0% to 770.23 pence per share on Wednesday morning.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
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