iSight - Ambition in healthcare

Making knowledge count

When 3i first put money into Domantis in 2004 it had every reason to believe it was backing a winner. Domantis was a sister company to Cambridge Antibody Technologies (CAT) in which 3i was the sole venture investor prior to its eventual flotation. “We had early knowledge of Domantis and were therefore in a good position to step in and lead the Series B round of funding,” says Nigel Pitchford, a 3i partner.

Set up around cutting edge technology to support the next generation of antibody therapies, Domantis in fact shared some of CAT’s patents, with CAT focused on  onoclonal
antibodies and Domantis focused on domain antibodies – the smallest antigen-sensing part of an antibody.

According to Pitchford: “There was a general upswell of antibody products coming to the market after 2001. Antibodies are a natural defence mechanism; the challenge is to turn them into therapeutically relevant molecules.” In the case of Domantis the focus was on diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, asthma and multiple myeloma – and the challenge, post 2004, was to take the company from a research phase into a development phase, and to build a business that would create value for its shareholders and employees.



“The company could have engaged in a broad range of activities and done reasonably well. But we took a more focused route, based around building a strategy to create a
therapeutic pipeline, which exemplified the key therapeutic attributes of domain antibodies.” One exit option at this stage was to look at a Nasdaq listing. Efforts were also made to give the company more of an American look and feel, including the recruitment of co-Biogen founder Mark Skaletsky who took on the role of chairman.

As the changes took shape, Domantis began to attract the attention of big pharma companies including Bristol Myers Squibb, who signed a significant licensing alliance with the company; Novo Nordisk, who invested; and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), who began talking about an even bigger alliance. “At this stage we were playing from a position
of strength,” says Pitchford. “The business was well funded and the management team weren’t compelled to make a bad deal.” And with CEO Robert Connelly at the helm it didn’t, eventually accepting a €350 million offer from GSK and finding a company ready to exploit a business with more than 10 drug candidates. “We definitely sold from a position of strength,” adds Pitchford. “It’s an example of what we can do with this type of business. By bringing the different elements together we get enhanced value.”

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