Mercia Technologies has invested £2 million into Medherant, a company developing transdermal delivery products for pain and CNS diseases. The additional funding is part of a nearly £2.4 million syndicated investment round.

Medherant is a spin out of the University of Warwick and received its first investment from Mercia in 2015. Since the initial funding, Medherant has secured an exclusive worldwide license from Bostik SA for using the adhesive in medical applications. Mercia now holds a 33.6% direct equity stake in the business.

“Medherant represents Mercia’s second largest investment within our direct investment portfolio of Life Science & Biosciences companies, which combined account for circa 25% of our direct investment portfolio by value,” Mark Payton, CEO of Mercia Technologies, said. “We are encouraged by the progress the team is making and this latest round of syndicated investment will support the continued development of Medherant’s suite of unique transdermal patches, targeted at attractive high-growth markets with significant unmet medical needs.”

Through the latest investment, Medherant can finalize the selection of three TEPI Patch products to take into clinical development.

“TEPI Patch technology holds great promise as a better way of delivering many different types of drugs. We are pleased to have supportive investors led by Mercia who are enabling us to progress the development of patch products that will bring significant benefits to patients across the globe,” Nigel Davis, CEO of Medherant, said in a press release.