Spinout Pursues Novel Approach for Inflammatory Conditions

Researchers at the University of Dundee are aiming to turn their spinout venture into a biotech business worth hundreds of millions of pounds by helping to treat people with eczema, rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory conditions. The company has so far attracted over £2 million in pre-company grants and investment and was recognised as one of Scotland’s major spinout opportunities for 2020 when it took top prize at the 2019 Converge Awards.

Founded by Dr Andrew Woodland and Dr Mark Bell, medicinal chemists at the University’s School of Life Sciences, it will be led by experienced biotech entrepreneur Dr Tim Sparey as CEO. Employing four staff initially, In4Derm plans to expand significantly as it moves forward with its approach for making safe and effective anti-inflammatory drugs that do not involve the use of steroid creams.

“The issue is that steroid creams and available oral treatments are not suitable for long term treatment of eczema in adults and many children with eczema are undertreated due to safety concerns, which is distressing for them and their parents,” said Dr Woodland.

“We have discovered two promising prototype drugs that we will now refine before progressing through into clinical trials. One is a pill and the other is a non-steroid cream. The work we have carried out to this point suggests our cream could be superior both in terms of safety and efficacy than current creams, whilst the pill seems to be safer than existing systemic treatment.

“Across the world there are lots of drugs in development for eczema but we are the first to target this particular mechanism, which we believe will be safer and more effective, offering the benefits of steroids without the risk.

The company will initially be funded through a variety of sources, including support from Scottish Enterprise’s High Growth Spin-out Programme (HGSP). Scottish Enterprise will continue to work with In4Derm on an ongoing basis via its High Growth Ventures team.