Knights is delighted to announce that its Corporate team has supported BGF and Longwall Ventures on their aggregate £3m investment into Kinomica, a proteomic-data science and diagnostics company specialising in cell signalling. The investments formed part of an aggregate £3.9m round, with the additional £900,000 secured via seed investors including BioCity, Alderley Park Ventures and Puffin Point.

The investment will be used to finance the rapid up-scale of operations - including facilities and equipment - to deliver a pipeline of projects. The investment forms part of Kinomica’s plans to bring forward technology for the development of kinase inhibitor drugs for treating cancer patients and other conditions. Kinomica has already secured commercial agreements with several pharma giants including AstraZeneca.

For BGF, the deal was led by Rhys Davenport, Tim Rea and Jonathan Earl. Investment Director Rebecca Todd led the project for Longwall Ventures.

Jane Theaker, Chief Executive at Kinomica, said: "This marks a huge step forward for Kinomica and for KScan, as we look to the future of cancer treatment.

Our pioneering technology offers much-needed support for the development of new precision medicines and represents a new approach to drug trials and treatments that will have a huge impact on patients’ lives.

We are enormously grateful to our investors for their support as we look to a new era of research and development in the battle against cancer and other disease areas where an understanding of cell signalling is important."

Rhys Davenport of BGF said: "Kinomica is a phenomenal example of early-stage life sciences innovation based in the North West.

The business' technology has the potential to provide insights to its pharma customer base, which help to identify drug targets, personalise treatments and develop diagnostics that will transform patient outcomes."

Knights' cross-office team comprised David Easdown, Matthew Bolton and Grace Hill. The transaction is Knights' latest life sciences deal, with several more in the pipeline which demonstrates its leading position in the sector.

Matthew Bolton, key advisor for Knights comments: "We are delighted to have advised BGF and Longwall on their investments in Kinomica - a business whose pioneering technology has the potential to make a real difference in the battle against cancer. As always, it was great working with the BGF and Longwall deal teams. Kinomica is a fantastic example of an innovative medtech business looking to make a positive and very real impact on the world, in this case, against an illness the pain of which so many of us know all too well. We wish them every success."