Clarendon portfolio company Sisaf has closed a $4.3million interim funding round led by Vickers Venture Partners with additional capital injections from Innovation Ulster Limited and Co-Fund NI, managed by Clarendon Fund Managers.
SiSaf is a young, commercial stage company that develops drugs using bio-courier technology, ProSilic®, a novel method of drug delivery that is based on a patented hybrid of porous silicon and liposomes. The company plans to use the investment to accelerate the development of its dermatology pipeline.
SiSaf’s Founder and ProSilic inventor, Dr. Suzanne Saffie-Siebert, Ph.D, said:
“There are many molecules in medical use today that have not reached their full therapeutic potential due to inherent limitations, such as limited efficacy, poor solubility, stability, or side effects. We don’t discover new drugs. Instead, we make existing drugs better, by formulating them with our ProSilic bio-courier technology.”
When describing the technology, Suzanne said, “Silicon has transformed the information technology industry and now it’s about to transform healthcare. Like a mobile phone can house any number of apps, silicon-based ProSilic can enable an unlimited number of medicines to become more effective, stable and easier to administer.”
Vickers Ventures Partners, Vice President, Elkhalil Binebine MD who led the investment said,
“We look for sustainable business models with competitive edge and leaders with strength of character. Platform plays are key to our portfolio risk mitigation when we are investing. SiSaf optimizes this model; their unique technology has so many potential applications it’s astonishing. The data in multiple areas is incredibly compelling and we are convinced they will change the face of drug delivery.”
ProSilic’s benefits were recently showcased at the annual South Beach Symposium in Florida. Mark Nestor MD Ph.D, Dermatologistand Symposium Chair said,
“Our skin protects us from the environment, but this formidable biological barrier significantly limits the topical delivery of drugs. The ProSilic delivery system provides the opportunity to deliver numerous dermatological drugs to where they are needed and release them over time both safely and effectively.”
