215 Capital, a leading investment firm focused on pharmaceuticals, healthcare, and life sciences, has made an $8 million investment in Medicus Pharma Ltd. (TSXV: MDCX), a biotech company accelerating the development of novel therapeutics.
Medicus Pharma’s wholly-owned subsidiary, SkinJect Inc., is developing a pioneering non-invasive treatment for basal cell skin cancer using a patented dissolvable microneedle patch to deliver chemotherapeutic agents directly to tumor cells.
Ajay Raju, Chairman and Managing Partner of 215 Capital, said he “looks for the biggest derby, best horse, and the best jockey when making bets. Skin cancer is the most prevalent cancer in the world, with basal cell carcinoma affecting five million patients annually. In this race, we’re not only betting on a promising horse – the SkinJect asset – but we also have great faith in the jockeys steering Medicus Pharma. This combination of a large market opportunity, innovative technology, and strong leadership makes Medicus an ideal addition to our portfolio.”
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The investment will support Medicus Pharma’s ongoing research and development programs and provide working capital for the company’s growth initiatives.
Philadelphia-based 215 Capital is led by Ajay Raju, a prominent venture capitalist who gained early notoriety as a large law firm leader and top corporate rainmaker. Raju, a resident of Philadelphia, has been engaged in deploying investment capital and leading businesses for more than 20 years.
In 2015, Raju formed 215 Capital to invest in companies in the seed, pre-series and Series A stages of their growth cycles, in sectors ranging from software-as-a-service to med-tech.
Today, 215 Capital manages an operations portfolio comprising 16 companies with aggregate valuation exceeding $1.5 billion and historical revenues exceeding $500MM. Most recently, 215 Capital launched the Togo PHL Fund I with a $100 million mandate to invest in disruptive early and mid-stage pharmaceutical, healthcare, and life sciences companies.
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215 Capital’s Togo Fund aims to support biopharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostic, and healthcare service specialists by leading or co-leading funding rounds. The firm targets disruptive companies in gene editing technologies, allogenic therapies, gene and oligonucleotide therapies, drug discovery technologies, cell therapies, and regenerative medicines.