Healx recently secured a £1.5m investment round from leading investors in the Cambridge Cluster (UK). Serial life science and technology entrepreneurs Jonathan Milner and Hermann Hauser, KBE (Amadeus Capital Partners) co-invested to help combat rare diseases. Biotech entrepreneur Darrin Disley, CEO of Horizon Discovery Group, will join the Healx board, which is chaired by the drug development leader Dr David Brown, co-inventor of Viagra and former Global Head of Drug Discovery at Roche.

Healx will continue developing their innovative technology platform combining machine learning, biological data analysis and drug development expertise to predict new uses for existing drugs. Healx works directly with charities and patient groups, helping them to lead the way in the search for rare disease treatments. They are currently working with major medical foundations in the US and Europe to find drug candidates to treat conditions including the childhood diseases Barth Syndrome and Fragile X Syndrome.

Lead investor Jonathan Milner, Founder of Abcam and The Milner Therapeutics Institute, said: “I’m hugely excited about supporting Healx and help make a difference for rare disease patients. The application of Healx’s technology will help transform and accelerate drug discovery for rare diseases”.

Hermann Hauser, KBE, partner and co-founder of Amadeus Capital Partners, said: “Healx has taken advances in machine learning, data mining and analytics and combined them with deep pharma and life sciences expertise to address a growing need in the healthcare sector. With huge pressure on R&D budgets, drug repositioning will be essential in the fight against rare diseases.”

Tim Guilliams, Chief Executive of Healx, commented: “Studies into rare medical conditions have long failed to receive adequate funding. By repurposing existing drugs to combat rare diseases, we are able to find potential treatments at a fraction of the cost and in a much shorter timeframe than developing a new drug. With this investment, we will have the resources to expand our technology platform and accelerate our drug review process to find treatments to many more devastating illnesses.”

Sales of ‘orphan’ drugs designed to treat a specific rare conditions have been growing following changes in regulation and tax incentives in the US, with the market forecast to reach $178 billion in 2020.