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Dundee spinout among Nature Awards nominees
Published on 14 June 2024
A University of Dundee spinout company has been named among the world’s most promising start-ups after being nominated for a prestigious global prize.
Outrun Therapeutics is developing medicines that stabilise proteins such as tumour suppressors and neuron survival factors, enabling the potential treatment of cancer and neurological disorders.
It has been longlisted for the Spinoff Prize 2024, a category within the renowned Nature Awards.
Our cells contain hundreds of enzymes termed E3 ligases, whose job is to degrade unwanted or deleterious proteins. Outrun is developing drugs that block the activity of these enzymes whose activity often goes awry in disease. The company has launched with an £8m Seed investment, led by M Ventures and MP Healthcare Venture Management.
Outrun’s scientific founder, Professor Satpal Virdee, based at the University’s Medical Research Council Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation Unit, is an internationally renowned expert in the field of E3 ligases and developed the technology Outrun is leveraging to accelerate the drug discovery process.
Earlier this year, the company announced a multi-million pound deal to develop first-in-class therapeutics that restore the body's natural disease suppression processes.
The University is already recognised for its success in forming high-growth spinout companies and last year was named as the UK’s best for supporting spinouts by Octopus Ventures, one of Europe’s largest venture capital teams. The independent ranking was determined by factors such as numbers of patents, spin-out companies created and recent portfolio success.
You can read more about Professor Virdee’s research here.