Based at BioCity, Nottingham, UK, Haemostatix Ltd was co-founded in 2003 by Sarah Middleton and Professor Alison Goodall as a spin-out from the University of Leicester. Spark Ventures, NESTA and Catapult Venture Managers are the major investors. £2.8 million funding has been raised since the company's inception - the latest £1.24 million investment round was completed in 2008. The Haemostatix management team has proven experience in product development and commercialisation and is supported by a recently strengthened board of directors. More...

Haemostatix was established to commercialise a new scientific approach to enhancing blood clotting and, in particular, to develop a synthetic substitute to donor platelets, a blood transfusion product and the principal treatment for bleeding. Donor platelets suffer from a very short shelf life of 5 days and, as a cellular blood product, expose patients to the risk of prion, viral and bacterial contamination. Previous attempts to create synthetic platelets to address this clearly defined medical need have relied upon overly complex technologies, leading to failure in development.

Using their wealth of experience in haemostasis and platelet research, the founders of Haemostatix created a new technology platform based upon a specific peptide sequence that binds to fibrinogen – a protein essential to the formation of clots. The peptide is coupled to different forms of solid support or carrier protein to create both systemic and topical haemostats. The technology targets material to wounds to physically augment the natural clotting process to prevent or control bleeding.

This new technology platform is the basis of a pipeline of first-in-class products to treat various forms of bleeding in leukaemic patients, and in surgery and trauma. Haemostatix’s lead product, HaemoPlax™, is a platelet substitute administered by infusion. The product reduces bleeding by ~50% in a well established model and is scheduled to start clinical trials in 2010. More...