Alderley Park, UK – 26 March 2018
Maxwellia, a pioneering ‘prescription to over the counter’ medicines company, today announced that it has raised £700,000 in early-stage investment from the GM&C Life Sciences Fund, managed by Catapult Ventures, as well as from existing investors and angels.
The funding represents a vital step for Maxwellia, which specialises in ‘switching’ - the conversion of prescription medicines into branded versions that can be bought without a prescription, over the counter (OTC).
The NHS is under unprecedented strain with soaring public demand and severe budget constraints. Minor ailments account for one in five GP consultations in England and cost an estimated £2 billion each year.(1) Many of these consultations could simply be avoided if more of the medicines that currently require a prescription were to become available to buy in pharmacies or supermarkets without a prescription.
“We have to start doing things differently and help people to look after themselves – it is what people want and the future of the NHS depends on it,” said Anna Maxwell, CEO of Maxwellia. “Today’s announcement is further endorsement of the work we have been doing to transform people’s health by providing easier access to the products and information they need, when they need it.”
The value of the UK consumer healthcare market is estimated at £2.47 billion and growing.(2) Switching is a vital means of maintaining the flow of new drugs for Self Care and it is estimated that new switches could add 20% to the UK OTC market by 2030.(3)
“We are very pleased to be working with Anna and her team of switching experts on this unique opportunity to develop a range of new ‘over the counter’ medicine brands and enable patients access to well established medicines in pharmacies without the need to see their doctor,” commented Dr Vijay Barathan, Life Science Partner with Catapult Ventures.
ENDS
References
1. Self Care: the first step to saving the NHS. PAGB Self Care Forum. 2013
2. PAGB: About Our Industry. https://www.pagb.co.uk/about-us/about-our-industry/ [accessed 15 March 2018]
3. Maxwellia Estimate
Contact:
Maxwellia info@maxwellia.com
Investment will expedite conversion of prescription medicines to over the counter
Maxwellia announces funding to accelerate its mission for self care
Notes to Editors:
About Maxwellia
Maxwellia is the first dedicated OTC switching company in the UK and is led by a pioneering multi-disciplinary team with over 100 combined years of experience in the field. Its mission is to widen access to more medicines to enable people to look after themselves better. Maxwellia has the strategic and commercial acumen to re-invigorate familiar drug molecules in a different way, safely repurpose them for Self Care and bring new, much-needed medicines to market. The company offers consultancy and capability services to small and mid-sized pharmaceutical companies in the UK/EU who want to switch their own established prescription medicines, and is also investing in its own switch programmes developing new OTC medicines to tackle future Public Health priorities.
About Anna Maxwell MRPharmS
Anna is a pharmacist and author of Switch Dynamics: A practical approach to switching medicines for Self Care. Having conducted in-depth analysis of over 30 switch projects in the UK and EU, and facilitated over 20, including the ground-breaking EU switch of morning-after pill, ellaOne, Anna has an unparalleled understanding of the critical factors necessary for a successful product launch.
About the GM&C Life Sciences Fund
Based in Alderley Park and managed by Catapult Ventures, the GM&C Life Sciences Fund is a seed and early stage venture capital fund targeting life sciences businesses located in the Greater Manchester and Cheshire & Warrington region. The Fund is the result of a collaboration between Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership, Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Cheshire East Council, and Manchester Science Partnerships and can be invested in ‘Life Science’ businesses across the following sectors:
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Pharmaceuticals
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Biotechnology
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Diagnostics
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Life Science contract research organisations (CROs)
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Healthcare technologies
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Medical devices
With contributions from both private and public-sector partners, the size of the Fund, at launch, is around £31m. Full details can be found at: http://www.gmclifesciencesfund.com/
About Catapult Ventures
Catapult Ventures is an independent venture capital fund manager that has been investing in UK businesses since 2002. Catapult's owners have operated discrete funds on behalf of public and private sector investors totalling c. £130m, including the GM&C Life Sciences Fund. Since 2015 Catapult has a track record of 10 exits averaging 4x cash returns, including Accutronics (9.1x), Lumora (5x), Oxford Cryosystems (5.3x), Systems Integration (4.9x), Monica Healthcare (3.5x), BWB Consulting (3x*), Hangar7 (3x) and Haemostatix (3x*). [*expected] Catapult Ventures and Catapult Ventures Group are trading names of Catapult Ultimate Holdings Ltd, which is the ultimate holding company of Catapult Venture Managers Ltd, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Future Funding
If you would like to be kept informed about the next EIS pre-qualified funding round in 2018/19 please request our investment publications by emailing Anna Maxwell our CEO at info@maxwellia.com