Medicxi portfolio company MiroBio to be acquired by Gilead Sciences for approximately $405 million

• Medicxi led the Company's Series B in June 2022
• First exit for Medicxi III, the venture fund launched by Medicxi in 2020

LONDON and GENEVA, Aug. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Medicxi, a leading European life sciences investment firm, announces that its portfolio company MiroBio Limited, a privately-held U.K.-based biotechnology company focused on restoring immune balance with agonists targeting immune inhibitory receptors, has entered into a definitive agreement with Gilead Sciences, Inc. to be acquired for approximately $405 million in cash, subject to customary adjustments.

MiroBio was spun out of the University of Oxford in 2019 to develop a new class of medicines, called immune checkpoint agonists, to treat autoimmune diseases by restoring balance to the immune system. Oxford Science Enterprises and Samsara BioCapital co-led a £27 million Series A investment in 2019 and Medicxi invested in the company in June 2022 when it led an £80 million Series B financing. Nick Williams, who was recently appointed as Partner at Medicxi, oversaw the investment and joined MiroBio's board.

Nick Williams, Partner at Medicxi, said: "The acquisition of MiroBio is a testament to the best-in-class discovery engine and highly innovative pipeline they have built. Despite recent advances, significant clinical unmet need remains in inflammatory and autoimmune diseases with the majority of patients not achieving remission with current therapies. By restoring immune homeostasis, MiroBio's checkpoint agonists have the potential to provide novel and differentiated treatments to these patients. We are extremely excited to be partnering with an experienced organisation like Gilead, which will accelerate MiroBio's candidates into treatments for patients. This deal also represents the first exit for Medicxi III, our most recent venture fund launched in 2020."

Giovanni Mariggi, co-founder and Partner at Medicxi, commented: "Over a decade of foundational research into inhibitory receptors at Oxford University provided MiroBio with world-leading domain expertise in checkpoint agonism. We are proud to have backed the company as they transition into the clinic and delighted for Nick, our newly-appointed Partner at Medicxi, on his continued success in creating and investing in biotech companies with the aim to deliver meaningful treatments for patients."

About Medicxi

Medicxi is a healthcare-focused investment firm with the mission to create and invest in companies across the full drug development continuum. Leveraging deep expertise in drug development and company creation spanning over two decades, Medicxi invests in early and late-stage therapeutics with a product vision that can fulfill a clear unmet medical need. For more information, please visit: https://www.medicxi.com

About MiroBio

MiroBio is a clinical-stage private biotechnology company whose mission is to develop a new class of therapeutic agents, checkpoint agonist antibodies, to restore immune balance in autoimmune patients. MiroBio has developed I-ReSToRE, a proprietary discovery platform, combining its Checkpoint Atlas™, a cutting-edge receptor mapping database and visualization tool, with proprietary antibody engineering. It was spun out of Oxford University in 2019 and is based on more than 15 years of foundational research from the labs of Professor Simon Davis and Professor Richard Cornall with the potential to create safer and more efficacious medicines for patients with autoimmune disease. MiroBio is backed by a strong group of international investors including Oxford Science Enterprises, Samsara BioCapital, SR One, Medicxi, Advent Life Sciences, OrbiMed and Monograph. 

For more information on MiroBio, please visit: https://www.mirobio.com/

SOURCE Medicxi