More MS news articles for July 2001

UK painkiller firm Ionix raises eight mln pounds

http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/010725/80/bzd27.html

Wednesday July 25, 10:54 AM

LONDON, July 25 (Reuters) - Ionix, a private biotechnology firm spun out of University College London, said on Wednesday it had secured eight million pounds ($11.4 million) of financing to fund its work on novel painkillers.

The funding round -- the latest sign that private equity remains ready to back biotech despite a slump in initial public offerings -- was led by venture capital firm Apax Partners and the Wellcome Trust medical charity.

The Cambridge-based company is working on new types of analgesics for inflammatory and nerve-damage pain, building on discoveries made by Professor John Wood of UCL, a leader in the role of ion channels in pain relief.

Ionix will focus on pain associated with chronic diseases such as osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and diabetic neuropathy.