Nemesis Bioscience and the EIC Accelerator: Grant Cut After Brexit
Nemesis Bioscience, incorporated in 2014 and based in Cambridge, worked on a way to make antibiotics work again. Its Transmids were designed "to restore antibiotic sensitivity to a wide range of pathogens", re-sensitising resistant bacteria to antibiotics, as its administrators later described them. In July 2022 the company announced a €2 million EIC Accelerator grant for a two-year programme with Newcastle University to show that Transmids, delivered by harmless gut bacteria, could clear resistance genes from the mammalian gut.
No project for it appears on CORDIS. The administrators' statement of proposals, filed at Companies House in March 2023, explains why: "The United Kingdom's exit from the European Union in January 2020 led to the termination of a €2 million European Union grant for the Company." Nemesis made four applications for a UKRI Horizon replacement grant, the latest in November 2022, then withdrew them on 25 January 2023. Unable to raise money, it went into administration on 1 February 2023 with three staff, all made redundant. It was dissolved on 2 May 2024.
Company file
- Legal entity
- Nemesis Bioscience Ltd, 08919523; dissolved
- Incorporated
- 3 March 2014
- CEO
- Frank Massam
- Technology
- Transmids, DNA therapeutics against antimicrobial resistance
- EIC Accelerator
- €2M grant announced July 2022; terminated, no CORDIS project
- Insolvency
- Administration 1 Feb 2023 (Kroll); dissolved 2 May 2024
What Happened to Nemesis
According to Kroll, the administrators, Nemesis had raised £2.296 million in equity since incorporation and had £890,000 of debt when they were appointed. It needed substantial investment to keep testing Transmids with a research partner in Japan. By the end of January 2023 it had "failed to secure any additional funding from investors or external sources", including European grants and bridge funding. Its lab and IT equipment fetched £9,292; its intellectual property was sold for £1,000, according to the final progress report. Preferential creditors received a distribution; other creditors did not.
The record
Seven months from EIC grant to administration
Nemesis announced its €2M EIC grant in July 2022. The administrators later wrote that the grant was terminated because of Brexit; the company entered administration in February 2023 and was dissolved in May 2024.
- Mar 2014Company incorporatedCambridge; Transmid DNA therapeutics
- 2019Aberystwyth facilityPre-clinical development site
- Jul 2022EIC grant announcedTransmids: stopping antibiotic resistance genes in the animal gut€2M
- Nov 2022UKRI applicationsFour attempts at a UKRI Horizon replacement grant
- 25 Jan 2023Applications withdrawnNo new funding found
- 1 Feb 2023AdministrationThree staff left, all made redundant
- 2023IP soldFor £1,000
- May 2024DissolvedStruck off after administration
UKI2S, Companies House administrators' reports.
"The new EIC grant will allow us to demonstrate, using an appropriate in vivo model, that we can prevent resistant infections."
Frank Massam, CEO, Nemesis Bioscience, July 2022The Technology: Disarming Resistance Instead of Killing Bacteria
The company's technology was meant to allow rapid production of Transmids against pathogens with existing and emerging resistance, for products that both treat and prevent infections. The EIC project targeted resistance genes in an animal gut microbiome. The company had opened a pre-clinical development facility at Aberystwyth University in 2019, according to the Development Bank of Wales.
The money
What Nemesis had raised, and what it got for its assets
In £ thousands. Equity raised since incorporation and debt at the administrators' appointment, against proceeds from its equipment and its intellectual property.
Kroll, Statement of Proposals (March 2023) and Final Progress Report (January 2024).
What the EIC Award Promised, and What the Record Shows
The award was to demonstrate in an animal model that Transmids delivered by gut bacteria could remove resistance genes and prevent their transmission. There is no CORDIS project, no report and no published result. By the administrators' account, the EU grant was terminated and the company collapsed before the work could be done.
- In vivo demonstrationNot doneCompany in administration.
- EU grantTerminatedBrexit, per administrators.
- UK replacement grantNot obtainedFour applications withdrawn.
- Technology preservedUnknownIP sold for £1,000.
The grant
The grant announced and the grant terminated
In € millions. The administrators say the €2M EU grant was terminated because of the UK's exit from the EU; the replacement UKRI applications were withdrawn.
UKI2S, July 2022; Kroll, Statement of Proposals, March 2023.
The Money
Nemesis relied on government grants and its shareholders, the administrators wrote. It sought more funding in late 2022 "due to the withdrawal of expected European Union grant funding". When none came, the board confirmed on 31 January 2023 that it would start an insolvency process, and the company was placed in administration the next day.
What Cannot Be Checked
Questions for the EIC
How the grant came to be terminated after the EIC selection, whether any EIC money was paid, why the UKRI applications were withdrawn, and who bought the patents are not public.
Why Europe Should Care
The EIC chose a company working on antibiotic resistance. According to its administrators, the grant then fell through because of Brexit, and the technology ended up sold for £1,000.
What the award promised
An animal-model demonstration that Transmids can clear antibiotic resistance genes from the gut.
What the record shows
A terminated grant, four withdrawn UK replacement applications, administration seven months after the announcement, and dissolution.
The Verdict
Selected, then stranded
Nemesis was selected by the EIC but, by its administrators' account, had the grant terminated. It is the clearest case in this series of an award that never arrived, and by the administrators' account the company could not replace it.
Nemesis Bioscience's former directors, its administrators and the EIC have not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on public records and published statements, linked throughout.
Industry
HealthBiopharmaceuticals
- Focus
- Microbiome therapeutics
- Technologies
- Synthetic biology
- Keywords
- Antimicrobial resistance
- Plasmids
- Animal gut microbiome
- Bacterial infections