Maxion Therapeutics Raises $72 million (£58 million) in an Oversubscribed
Series A Financing to Advance its KnotBody® Pipeline and Platform
- Financing led by General Catalyst with additional investment from new investors, British Patient Capital, Solasta Ventures and Eli Lilly and Company and supported by existing investors LifeArc Ventures, Monograph Capital and BGF
- Proceeds will be used to transform Maxion into a clinical-stage biotech company, taking the lead KnotBody programme MAX001 to clinical proof-of-concept and advancing additional programmes towards the clinic
Cambridge, UK, 17 March 2025 – Maxion Therapeutics (”Maxion”), a biotechnology company developing antibody-based KnotBody® drugs for ion channel- and G protein coupled receptor (GPCR)-driven diseases, announced today that it has raised $72 million (£58 million) in a Series A financing. The financing reaffirms the potential of Maxion’s proprietary KnotBody technology and development pipeline and its opportunity to address large global markets.
This oversubscribed Series A funding round was led by General Catalyst with additional investment from new investors, British Patient Capital, a commercial subsidiary of the British Business Bank, Solasta Ventures and Eli Lilly and Company and supported by existing investors LifeArc Ventures, Monograph Capital and BGF.
Arndt Schottelius, MD PhD, Maxion’s Chief Executive Officer, commented: “This landmark fundraising – one of the largest European private biotech financings since the beginning of 2024 – highlights the significant potential of our technology and development pipeline. KnotBodies represent a potential breakthrough biologic drug modality, delivering greater potency, selectivity, and durability. We believe that KnotBodies will provide transformational new therapeutic options for ion channel- and GPCR-driven diseases, across a wide range of therapeutic areas with a remaining high unmet medical need. The calibre of our international investor syndicate validates our approach, and I would like to welcome our new investors to Maxion and thank our existing investors for their continued support.”
Maxion is developing a proprietary pipeline of KnotBody molecules with “first-in-class” and “best-in-class” potential. Maxion’s lead KnotBody programme, MAX001, is currently in preclinical development to target a broad spectrum of inflammatory diseases such as atopic dermatitis and inflammatory bowel disease. Other early-stage programmes include KnotBody molecules for the treatment of pain and cardiovascular disease.
Ion channel and GPCR dysfunction is implicated in a wide range of debilitating diseases and current treatments, based on small molecule drugs, often suffer from poor efficacy and side effects due to the lack of selectivity and exposure. Compared to small molecules, engineered antibodies offer superior selectivity and are well proven therapeutically. Despite these obvious advantages, antibody discovery against ion channels and GPCRs has been very challenging with no antibodies against ion channels currently in clinical development.
Co-founders Dr. John McCafferty and Dr. Aneesh Karatt-Vellatt developed Maxion’s revolutionary KnotBody technology, which combines the benefits of knottins (cysteine-rich mini-proteins which are natural ion channel modulators) with antibodies, creating safe, efficacious and long-acting ion channel modulators.
Elena Viboch, Managing Director at General Catalyst, added: “We believe Maxion is radically shifting the biologics discovery process to address the most challenging drug targets such as ion channels and GPCRs. With a strong team and differentiated platform, Maxion is well-positioned to discover and develop medicines that matter.”
Following this fundraising, Elena Viboch, Managing Director at General Catalyst and Emma Johnson, Senior Investment Manager, Life Sciences at British Patient Capital will join the Maxion Board.
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For more information, please contact:
Maxion Therapeutics
Arndt Schottelius, MD PhD, CEO
E-mail: communications@maxion.co.uk
ICR Healthcare
Mary-Jane Elliott / Ashley Tapp / Kate Hall
E-mail: MaxionTherapeutics@icrinc.com
About Maxion Therapeutics
Maxion Therapeutics is a biotechnology company developing antibody-based drugs for previously untreatable ion channel- and G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR)-driven diseases, including autoimmune conditions, chronic pain, and cardiovascular disease. The Company is developing a pipeline of potentially first- and best-in-class therapeutics using its proprietary KnotBody technology to generate potent, selective, and long-acting therapeutics by combining naturally occurring mini-proteins (‘knottins’) with antibodies using state-of-the-art phage and mammalian display technologies. Maxion was founded in 2020 by highly respected biotech entrepreneurs and scientists Dr John McCafferty, CTO and Dr Aneesh Karatt-Vellatt, CSO. Dr McCafferty previously co-invented antibody phage display, which was the subject of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded to his co-inventor Sir Gregory Winter. Maxion’s portfolio and growth is being advanced by a team of highly experienced leaders in the discovery and development of antibody-based drugs. The Company is based near Cambridge, UK and is backed by international blue-chip investors. For more information, please visit:
https://www.maxiontherapeutics.com/
About General Catalyst
General Catalyst is a global investment and transformation company that partners with the world’s most ambitious entrepreneurs to drive resilience and applied AI. We support founders with a long-term view who challenge the status quo, partnering with them from seed to growth stage and beyond. With offices in San Francisco, New York City, Boston, Berlin, Bangalore, and London, we have supported the growth of 800+ businesses, including Airbnb, Anduril, Applied Intuition, Commure, Glean, Guild, Gusto, Helsing, Hubspot, Kayak, Livongo, Mistral, Ramp, Samsara, Snap, Stripe, Sword, and Zept. For more information, please visit: https://www.generalcatalyst.com/
About LifeArc Ventures
LifeArc is a self-funded medical research charity with more than 25 years of translating early science into health care treatment including a diagnostic for antibiotic resistance and five licensed medicines. Our model is built on collaboration, and through our LifeArc Ventures team, we invest in Seed and Series A stage companies with significant follow-on investment reserved for successful portfolio companies. Our ventures approach focuses on investing in novel translational science and technology with a dual goal of generating financial returns to the charity and positive impact for patients. Find out more on www.lifearc.org / https://lifearcventures.com or follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter (@LifeArcVentures).
About Monograph Capital
Monograph Capital is a life sciences venture firm who finds and fund groundbreaking life sciences companies to transform promising science into real, life-changing treatments across the world. Founded in 2021, with offices in London and San Francisco, Monograph invests in life sciences companies that seek to create new or improved therapeutics and related technology-enabled service businesses. The Monograph team brings a wealth of expertise and a proven track record in building successful companies. The team’s collective experience spans various domains, including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and digital health.
For enquiries and more information, please visit: https://www.monograph.bio/
About BGF
BGF was set up in 2011 and has invested £4.5 billion in more than 600 companies, making it the most active growth capital investor in the UK and Ireland. BGF has to date invested over £200 million in the field of life sciences, supporting companies across the fields of therapeutics, diagnostics, medtech and tools. BGF is a minority, non-controlling equity partner with a patient outlook on investments, based on shared long-term goals with the management teams it backs. BGF invests in growing businesses in the UK and Ireland through its network of 15 offices.
For more information, please visit https://www.bgf.co.uk
About British Patient Capital
British Patient Capital Limited is a wholly owned commercial subsidiary of British Business Bank plc, the UK government’s economic development bank. Its mission is to enable long-term investment in innovative firms led by ambitious entrepreneurs who want to build large-scale businesses. Launched in June 2018, British Patient Capital has more than £3bn of assets under management, investing in venture and venture growth capital to support high growth potential innovative UK businesses in accessing the long-term financing they require to scale up. Find out more at britishpatientcapital.co.uk.
About Solasta Ventures
Solasta Ventures, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of AJU IB Investment, a leading South Korean venture capital firm. We invest in companies and partners who share our vision of translating scientific innovations into a better tomorrow for patients. For more information, please visit https://solasta-ventures.com/
