Apollo Therapeutics: medicines for unmet needs

Bringing together six academic and pharma powerhouses to bridge promising discoveries and commercial medicines.

Closeup of researcher hand pointing at a laptop screen displaying 3D molecular model

Problem to be solved

Many promising university discoveries do not progress to patients because the work needed to de-risk and translate them is substantial, time-consuming and not always well served by traditional funding routes. There has been a need for models that can bridge early discovery and investor-ready programmes, combining academic excellence with industry-standard drug discovery and development.

Solution

Apollo Therapeutics was created as a collaboration between leading universities and pharmaceutical partners to bridge this gap. It combines access to academic discoveries with an experienced drug discovery team that helps shape, manage and progress programmes to industry standards, taking them to a point where assets can be licensed and further investment unlocked.

How UCL Ventures helped

UCL Ventures supported the creation and operation of Apollo as part of a multi-partner collaboration, contributing commercial and translational expertise to shape the model and support project selection, contracting and execution. Working with peer universities and industry partners, UCL Ventures helped ensure programmes were developed to industry standards and positioned to attract follow-on investment and licensing interest.

“We find ourselves in universities working with brilliant researchers, who are doing research with the potential for spectacularly beneficial human healthcare impact. But there is a lot of work to get it from early-stage discovery to the point where there is even a shot on that proverbial goal to be able to benefit patients. The investment wasn’t there to deliver progress quickly enough,” says Ian Thomas, Head of Life Science, Cambridge Enterprise.

Where is Apollo Therapeutics now?

Apollo launched its first fund in 2016 and has since built a substantial portfolio of drug discovery programmes across areas of high unmet need, with early assets out-licensed. A major financing in 2021 marked the start of a new chapter, enabling Apollo to take selected programmes further into the clinic while continuing to source and develop new opportunities from university science.