28 Oct 2022 16:29
28 October 2022
Schroder UK Public Private Trust plc
Investment in Araris
Schroder UK Public Private Trust plc (the "Company") is pleased to announce it has made a commitment of CHF 3 million (£2.7 million) to antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) development company, Araris Biotech AG ("Araris"), as part of its CHF 23.5 million (£21.4 million) financing round. New investors Wille Finance (CH) and Institute for Follicular Lymphoma Innovation (US) as well as existing investors in the company's blue chip syndicate participated in this financing including Pureos Bioventures, 4BIO Capital, VI Partners, btov Partners and Redalpine.
Araris is pioneering the development of a novel antibody-drug conjugate (ADC)-linker technology to enable efficient and precise production of ADCs. Its linker platform enables the attachment of any drug payload to 'off the shelf' antibodies, without the need for prior antibody engineering. The resulting ADCs have shown very high activity at low doses and an improved therapeutic index compared to FDA-approved ADCs. Araris is a spin-off company from the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) and ETH Zurich.
The Company is committed to improving its sustainability profile and intends to disclose, where appropriate, the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals ("SDGs") associated with new investments. The investment in Araris is in line with SDG 3 "Good health and well-being", specifically Target 3.4 "Reduce mortality from non-communicable diseases and promote mental health" and Target 3.B "Support research, development and universal access to affordable vaccines and medicines".
Tim Creed and Roger Doig, Portfolio Managers of the Company, jointly commented: "Araris is the tenth new investment and the second therapeutics focused private equity investment since our appointment as Portfolio Manager. This investment is in line with the Company's private equity sub-strategy for backing innovative life sciences businesses, at the clinical or near-clinical stage, with high quality science, a strong financing position, alongside high-quality co-investors."
Enquiries:
Schroder Investment Management Limited
Augustine Chipungu (Press) | 0207 658 2106 |
John Spedding | 0207 658 3206 |