MeOmics Precision Medicine Ltd, the Cardiff Capital Region-based enterprise, has announced key pre-seed investment to further develop the world’s first Precision Psychiatry platform – pursuing the vision of significantly improving the diagnosis and treatment of severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bi-polar and other mental disorders.
This pioneering platform has secured £150K investment from David Stevens, Darran Evans and Edward Parkinson – and has won additional match funding from Innovate UK’s Biomedical Catalyst fund, together with in-kind participation from a leading UK mental healthcare provider.
A spin-out from Cardiff University – academic home to MeOmics’ scientific founders Professor Adrian Harwood and Professor Jeremy Hall – the MeOmics team includes Special Advisors Dr Lucy Sykes (cell specialist and entrepreneur) and Professor James Walters (an acknowledged genomics expert), and is led by CEO Alasdair Pettigrew, a seasoned business leader with a track record of success in taking novel thinking to world-leading status.
Alasdair Pettigrew, CEO of MeOmics said:
“It is difficult to overstate the importance of this funding – and the potential of the MeOmics platform. There hasn’t been a breakthrough in the treatment of severe mental illness for decades. It’s an infinitely complex field and is treated to date with historical drugs and a degree of trial and error. The MeOmics platform has the potential to change all that. We plan to be able to give drug companies, for the very first time, the data they need on the type of patients who will respond to a certain type of drug – enabling good science to show how bio-signals change with each treatment.”
David Stevens – Ex Admiral CEO and Investor said:
“My idea of a perfect investment is one which supports the growth of a company based in Wales, which is excellent in its field and whose success would be a positive for all, not just for its investors. Rarely does an investment score 3 out of 3. MeOmics is based in Wales, and it’s built on the brilliant research of a very talented team from Cardiff University. Its goal is to accelerate the development of new and better treatments for mental illness. What’s not to like!”
Darran Evans – Investor said:
“Meomics is operating in a very worthwhile and exciting space. The need for more efficient and targeted therapies in the mental health sector is clear. The team have already made significant steps and I look forward to seeing further progress towards their ambitious objectives in the next couple of years.”
Edward Parkinson – Investor said:
“I am delighted to support this Cardiff University spin-out that combines machine learning with unique omics data to unlock life changing therapies.”
This development promises to be a quantum leap in the ability to treat conditions that cause unimaginable pain and distress across the world. It will reduce the human, social and economic cost of severe mental illness, ultimately providing a platform that can develop and deliver a precision mental healthcare approach – and in the future, possibly even enabling MeOmics to create its own pipeline of drugs.
This funding will enable the MeOmics platform to enter its next stage of development from 1st May, with the expectation to build a large multidisciplinary team of experts in the Cardiff area, growing a company value of £10M in two years and £50M-£100M within five years.
