Date: Oct 08, 2013 Author: press release Source: PR Newswire (
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BRANFORD, Conn., Oct. 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- AxioMx Inc. announced today that it has completed its second financing round, raising $2 million in investment from Connecticut Innovations (CI), Elm Street Ventures, Vital Venture Capital and AxioMx company founders.
"We are excited to add Vital Venture Capital to our group of investors, and we are inspired by the continued confidence Connecticut Innovations and Elm Street Ventures have shown in AxioMx's progress and in our vision to rapidly create custom antibody reagents," said Christopher McLeod, president and CEO of AxioMx.
AxioMx is an early-stage biotechnology company that is developing a novel, high-throughput method to synthetically generate affinity reagents, which are fragments of monoclonal antibodies that specifically bind to target proteins and are useful in life science research, diagnostic tests and as therapeutics. Its goal is to reduce antibody reagent development time from the current 4-6 months (with traditional technology) to less than four weeks. AxioMx antibodies are generated entirely in vitro which enables consistent antibody quality across production batches and does not involve the use of animals.
AxioMx has been awarded over $1.6 million in grant funding from the National Institutes of Health to advance its research and development work. In addition, in the past nine months, customers have ordered over $750,000 of custom services including antigen design, novel antibody discovery and development, and affinity maturation of existing antibodies.
"Within the past year, AxioMx has made significant strides in refining its technology, securing resources to facilitate its growth and acquiring new customers. We are confident in the company's ability to achieve its goals and contribute to the expansion of Connecticut's bioscience industry," said Claire Leonardi, chief executive officer of CI, which participated in this round with a $500,000 follow-on investment through its Eli Whitney Fund.
McLeod added, "This additional investment is a vote of confidence in our team. Talented scientists and supportive venture capital make Connecticut a great place to start and grow a bioscience company."
About AxioMx Inc.
AxioMx, founded in 2012 and based in Branford, Connecticut, is a leader in recombinant antibody technologies. Its founders, Chris McLeod and Dr. Michael Weiner, are life science entrepreneurs who have previously led successful genomics, next-generation sequencing, microfluidics, bioinformatics and proteomic organizations. AxioMx's unique platform of proprietary phage display libraries, Rapid Liquid Screening, and affinity maturation methods enables fast delivery of highly specific, high affinity, and reproducible recombinant antibodies that are optimized to work in a desired application. The company offers a full range of custom antibody discovery and development services for the research, diagnostic and therapeutic marketplaces. For more information on AxioMx, please visit www.axiomxinc.com.
About Connecticut Innovations Inc.
Connecticut Innovations (CI) is the leading source of financing and ongoing support for Connecticut's innovative, growing companies. To maximize each business's growth potential, CI tailors its solutions and often combines its funds with resources from other financial leaders to provide venture capital and strategic support for early-stage technology companies; flexible loans for established companies with new innovations; grants that support innovation and collaboration; and connections to its well-established network of partners and professionals. Through all these initiatives, CI has helped bring $4 billion in financing to Connecticut companies. The state's most active early-stage investor, CI has created more than 26,000 jobs. For more information on CI, please visit www.ctinnovations.com.
About Elm Street Ventures
Elm Street Ventures is a seed and early stage venture fund based in New Haven, Connecticut. Its emphasis has been on the life sciences, with approximately 70% of its investments to date in companies developing laboratory tools, diagnostics, medical devices, therapeutics, and other healthcare-related products and services. The remaining 30% of its commitments are in green technology, information technology and other industries. To date, Elm Street Ventures has co-founded and/or provided initial financing to thirteen of the sixteen companies in its portfolio. For more information on Elm Street Ventures, please visit www.elmvc.com.
About Vital Venture Capital
Vital Venture Capital is a venture capital firm based in Bethesda, Maryland, focusing on patentable science technologies and business software. The firm has invested in 17 portfolio companies since its formation in 2008. Partners contribute expertise in marketing, sales, implementation, product development, intellectual property, and finance to the management teams of their investment companies. For more information on Vital Venture Capital, please visit www.vitalvc.com.
Contact: Christopher McLeod
President and CEO
AxioMx Inc.
Phone: (203) 554-5305
Email: cmcleod@axiomxinc.com
