June 9, 2008

Life-Sciences Firm Secures Funds To Launch Products

John P. McDermott  /  Post and Courier

A British life-sciences company that is setting up its North American headquarters in Charleston is expanding across the pond with a bit more firepower in its coffers. Myconostica Ltd. said it recently secured an additional $2 million from UMIP Premier Fund to close out a $10.7 million round of financing, including seed money from South Carolina.

"The total capital raised in this financing will support the launch of Myconostica's first two products," the company said in a statement.

Myconostica plans to set up offices and laboratory space with a small staff while seeking government blessing to sell its products to hospitals and medical laboratories. The company is eyeing locations along the Clements Ferry Road corridor and on the former Navy base.

The firm's North American launch, projected for later this year, includes test kits designed to speed up the detection of invasive and often-fatal fungal infections in patients with weakened immune systems. The company also will be seeking approval to market and sell a system that can extract contaminant-free samples of fungal DNA for a fast and accurate analysis.

The company, a 2-year-old spinoff from the University of Manchester, hopes to grow its U.S. business to the point that it makes financial sense to import materials for assembly in the Charleston region. Eventually, it would like to start manufacturing its products from scratch in the region, officials have said. Myconostica's decision to plant its flag in the Palmetto State is rooted in legislation passed several years ago to help attract better-paying jobs from the likes of the life-science industry and other so-called knowledge-based businesses.

The Venture Capital Investment Act authorizes the state to borrow up to $50 million at low interest rates and hire professional investors to scout out promising technology startups. One of those hired guns, Nexus Medical Partners, parked about $1.9 million in Myconostica. Nexus also introduced the company to the Lowcountry, where the U.K firm been working with institutions such as the Medical University of South Carolina and the city of Charleston's new Life Science Initiative.