York University spin-out Mesenbio raises £1.4m for new arthritis treatment

The treatment will initially target rheumatoid arthritis, a disease that affects nearly 500,000 adults and children in the UK alone, causing debilitating joint pain and inflammation of the hands, knees, elbows, ankles, and wrists.

A spokesman said: “Current therapies can ease pain and inflammation but – unlike Mesenbio’s therapies - lack the combined actions of reducing inflammation and protecting the tissue from further damage. Mesenbio’s treatment is based on nano-sized messengers created from engineered human stem cells that not only curb inflammation but can kick-start the process of regenerating damaged tissue.”

Mesenbio was founded by Professor Paul Genever and Dr David Kuntin and is based on their work at the University of York’s Biomedical Research Institute. The funding will enable them to create three new roles, develop pilot manufacturing processes, carry out pre-clinical studies and prepare the regulatory dossier in readiness for clinical trials.

Mesenbio, which is based at the university, becomes the twelfth company to join the DSW Ventures portfolio, and the first from its recently-launched Seed EIS fund.

Doug Quinn of DSW Ventures commented: “Extracellular vesicles is an evolving technology and with the promising data generated by the team at Mesenbio, this funding enables further progress towards a treatment for what is a debilitating condition for so many people.”

Jason Goldstein, co-founder at NG Bio, said: “This is an exciting time in the search for therapies that can address tissue damage resulting from arthritic conditions.”

Lucy Donaldson, Director for Research and Health Intelligence at the charity Versus Arthritis, which has funded Mesenbio’s research, said: “We are pleased to have supported Mesenbio to allow them to move into the next developmental stage for important and necessary arthritis treatment.”

Weightmans LLP (legal) advised DSW Ventures and NGBio on the deal, with Taylor Wessing advising Mesenbio.