Gendel receives €3.3m funding

Coleraine biotechnology company has secured €3.3m in third round funding in a round led by venture capital company Crescent Capital. Other investors included Enterprise Equity [NI], Scottish Equity partners and Danish investment fund PVJ.

Originally based on the University of Ulster's Coleraine campus, the company received initial funding of €1.47m in March 1999 from 3iGroup, businessman Alan Patterson and the Northern Ireland government, including funds through LEDU.

A further funding round was closed In March, 2000 further funding of €2.21m was obtained in a round led by Enterprise Equity [NI] Ltd. Also participating in that round was 3iGroup, Crescent Ltd and a private investor.

The company has developed a drug-delivery system that uses red blood cells and ordinary diagnostic ultrasound that can deliver pharmaceuticals to the specific organ or location where they are needed.

This can be of particular importance where drugs, such as those used in chemotherapy, are toxic and cause side effects. The latest round of funding is being used to finance the move from laboratory testing to testing on humans.