BiVictriX Therapeutics, led by 33-year-old CEO Tiffany Thorn, is trying to fix one of the longest-standing problems in cancer treatment.
The firm had raised 拢2.3 million in investment, including a significant slice from The Development Bank of Wales, before Thorn took the decision to list the BioTech business on the London Stock Exchange’s alternative AIM market.
The listing raised 拢7.5m but the Wigan-raised CEO hopes it鈥檚 just the latest stepping stone on her mission to transform the treatment of cancer, and acute myeloid leukemia in particular.
鈥淚t you take antibiotics, for example, they鈥檙e targeting a bacteria,鈥� she says in an interview with our sister publication . 鈥淎 bacteria cell is very different to a human cell.
鈥淭he problem with a cancer cell is it鈥檚 very similar in appearance to a normal healthy cell in the body. Designing the drugs that only target the cancer cells and don鈥檛 inadvertently target the healthy cells is the big problem in cancer drug development.
鈥淭he Holy Grail is if we can develop drugs that are really toxic but only to cancer cells instead of healthy cells. If we can do that we could reduce the toxicity that patients face – and then we can give higher doses of the drug that would be much more effective without significantly harming the patient in the process.
鈥淎t the moment we have to limit the doses we give because of the side effects so it limits the overall effectiveness of the treatment.鈥�
BiVictriX Therapeutics has bases in Alderley Park, Cheshire and Wales, well away from the traditional 鈥榞olden triangle鈥� of drug development in the UK of Cambridge and Oxford.
鈥淲e know that what we do is really valued and critical work,鈥� she explains. 鈥淲e need to stay competitive. We鈥檙e a small company working in a really exciting area.聽
鈥淎s soon as we start to showcase our data we expect to see many other pharma companies becoming interested in this area. We need to stay really nimble and competitive.
鈥淏eing a listed company has given us really quick access to the funds that we need to accelerate our development to stay competitive in this area while developing these drugs for the people that need them as quickly as possible.
鈥淭o stand there at the Stock Exchange, ring the bell and start trading, was a fantastic experience and just a credit to everyone who has helped us get there.鈥�
Read the full story below on TechBlast about Thorn’s battle with undiagnosed dyslexia, her rise to become a scientific founder and how AML struck down her primary school teacher before her father was diagnosed with the devastating blood cancer.