Heraeus Invests in Locate Therapeutics

Precious metal and technology Group, Heraeus Holding has announced the completion of an equity investment in Nottingham based regenerative medicine platform company, Locate Therapeutics.

The investment forms part of a multi-million pound package including a grant of £1.4m from the UK Technology Strategy Board. As part of a new strategic initiative to accelerate its product development pipeline Heraeus has been actively seeking enabling technologies and development partners in the burgeoning field of regenerative medicine.

Incubated by the University of Nottingham with grant funding and financial assistance from Wellcome Trust and the University, Locate Therapeutics developed a material which can be squirted into broken bones, which hardens within minutes. The ‘injectable bone’ substance, which looks similar to toothpaste, creates a biodegradable scaffold which the bone is then able to grow over.

The TAOS™ (Targeted, Orchestrated Signaling) patented platform is a world first in tissue repair with multiple medical applications. It enables the precision focus of therapeutic signals and provides an optimal structure to support tissue repair. Uniquely, TAOS can accommodate and promote the actions of receptor-binding moieties, locally-applied drugs, and emergent biological & cell-based therapies.

Jan Rinnert, Chairman of the Board of Management Heraeus Holding said, “We have been impressed by the scientifically robust way in which Locate has developed and validated TAOS. This is an exciting technology which will enable Heraeus to expand its regenerative medicine pipeline”

Commenting for Locate, Ashley Cooper, CEO said, “We are delighted to have secured an investment from a company that really understands the needs and opportunities that exist in the regenerative medicine field and which is investing for the long term. This gives us great confidence that we will be able to fully exploit the therapeutic and commercial potential of TAOS”.

Founder and CSO of Locate, Professor Kevin Shakesheff, offered an equally upbeat perspective on the investment. “Locate is focussed on clinical problems in which regeneration of human tissue will displace biomaterial or drug therapies in the next decade. With this investment and the continued support of Heraeus we will be able to expedite the commercial development of the most promising and needed regenerative medicine applications of TAOS”.

The financial terms of the investment by Heraeus were not disclosed