MELBOURNE, Australia, July 06, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Brandon Capital, Australasia’s leading life sciences venture capital firm, today announces the successful exit of its portfolio company Myricx Bio following its agreement to be acquired by Novartis. The transaction is valued at up to US$1.5 billion (~A$2.16bn) including an upfront cash payment of US$1.1 billion (~A$1.58bn) plus potential milestone payments.
Myricx Bio is a UK-based pre-clinical oncology company developing a novel class of payloads for antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). One of the most important emerging modalities in cancer therapy, ADCs combine the targeting precision of antibodies with the tumour-killing activity of potent small-molecule payloads. The acquisition advances ADC innovation by bringing together the strengths of Novartis in oncology with Myricx’s two lead ADC assets and its next-generation N-myristoyltransferase inhibitor (NMTi) payload platform with potential impact across multiple solid tumour settings.
Brandon Capital played an instrumental role in the formation of Myricx Bio, a spin out from Imperial College London and the Francis Crick Institute. It was co-founded by Brandon Capital Venture Partner Dr. Roberto Solari who served as Myricx Bio’s founding CEO. Brandon Capital was joint founding seed investor in 2019. Managing Partner Dr. Stephen Thompson led the investment, providing strategic and operational support through its capital-efficient early development and subsequent financings, maintaining a substantial shareholding through to acquisition, led by Myricx Bio CEO Mohit Rawat.
The exit will generate a significant return for Brandon Capital’s investors, Australian superannuation (pension) funds Hostplus, HESTA and Aware Super as well as CSL and QIC. It further strengthens the firm’s track record of building globally competitive life sciences companies from breakthrough academic science.
Brandon Capital UK-based Partner Dr. Jonathan Tobin joined Myricx Bio as Executive Director in 2023 to help build the company’s ADC capability and raise the Series A. He is a co-inventor on one of Myricx Bio’s ADC patents alongside Dr. Solari and Myricx Bio CSO Dr. Francesca Zammarchi.
Dr. Jonathan Tobin, Myricx Bio Director and Partner at Brandon Capital said, “Congratulations to Mohit Rawat, Robin Carr and the Myricx Bio team. This acquisition by Novartis is a testament to the phenomenal work of Myricx Bio’s founders and management, and a powerful validation of Brandon Capital’s approach of backing world-class science before it is obvious to others.”
Mohit Rawat, Myricx Bio CEO said, “Building biotech companies from early-stage concepts into medicines that improve patients’ lives takes time, conviction and, of course capital. Brandon Capital recognised the potential of NMT inhibition early, and has been a highly supportive investor, enabling us to have advanced NMTi-ADCs with the promise as an entirely new class of cancer therapeutics.”
Brandon Capital is building a track record of strong returns through both early- and mid-stage exits, while also supporting companies through to commercialisation.
Dr. Stephen Thompson, former Myricx Bio Director and Managing Partner at Brandon Capital said, “Myricx Bio encapsulates the kind of company we exist to build: a bold, potentially first-in-class therapeutic platform with the promise to deliver both exceptional investor returns and meaningful benefit for patients. This exit positions the firm well to continue attracting capital to support our existing portfolio and to back the next generation of breakthrough biomedical companies.”
Caption: Brandon Capital Partner Dr. Jonathan Tobin (left) and Managing Partner Dr. Stephen Thompson (right).
Note – The transaction is expected to close in H2 2026, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.
Myricx Bio announcement HERE
Novartis news room HERE
About Brandon Capital’s history in Myricx Bio
- Myricx Bio platform and pipeline
Myricx Bio is a UK-headquartered oncology company. It has developed N-myristoyltransferase inhibitors (NMTi), as a payload platform that has the potential to overcome limitations of current ADCs, including resistance and toxicity. Its pipeline of proprietary of NMTi-ADCs are directed against established cancer targets, B7-H3 and HER2.
- Myricx Bio early history, 2019 – 2023
Brandon Capital played an instrumental role in the formation and development of Myricx Bio, identifying the opportunity to exploit the novel biology of NMT for the development of first-in-class cancer medicines.
Dr Roberto Solari, Venture Partner at Brandon Capital and former Visting Professor at Imperial College London, co-founded Myricx Bio with Professor Ed Tate and Dr Andy Bell with support from Cancer Research UK. Dr Solari served as its founding CEO, recruiting industry veteran and former colleague and Brandon Capital Advisor Dr Robin Carr to lead drug development and subsequently become CEO.
Brandon Capital worked alongside co-founding seed investor Sofinnova Partners, helping to recruit senior leadership and shaping the company’s strategy. It supported Myricx Bio in a capital-efficient programme of early-stage experiments that ultimately led to the company’s successful pivot into ADCs.
- Myricx Bio focus on ADCs, 2023 – 2026
Realising the potential of NMTis as ADC payloads, Brandon Capital supported a strategic pivot, with Partner Dr Jonathan Tobin joining Myricx Bio as Executive Director in 2023. There was no ADC expertise inside Myricx Bio at the time, so Brandon Capital got directly involved, helped rebuild the team, and supported the company through a rapid and highly effective transformation.
In 2024, Myricx Bio raised a £90m (A$172m) Series A round co-led by Novo Holdings and Abingworth, with new investors British Business Bank and Eli Lilly joining the round alongside Cancer Research Horizons, Sofinnova Partners and Brandon Capital. At the time this was the largest Series A of a UK academic start-up company. Myricx Bio recruited Mohit Rawat as CEO, who has led the company through to a groundbreaking acquisition by Novartis.
- Additional quotes
Dr. Roberto Solari, Venture Partner at Brandon Capital and Myricx Bio founding CEO said, “Myricx Bio demonstrates the power of Brandon Capital’s model: combining deep scientific conviction, hands-on company building, and disciplined early-stage investment.
“When Brandon Capital first backed the potential for NMT inhibition based on a new understanding of its biology, there was no precedent for this approach. It was early, highly innovative, and high risk. But we believed the science had the potential to create an entirely new class of cancer therapeutics. Today’s acquisition by Novartis shows that judgment was right.”
Dr. Jonathan Tobin, Partner at Brandon Capital and Myricx Bio Director said, “We recognised that NMTi-ADCs could become the next-generation class of ADC payloads, and that with a growing pipeline of cytotoxic payloads there would become a need for a completely orthogonal mechanism.”
Dr. Stephen Thompson, former Myricx Bio Director and Managing Partner at Brandon Capital said, “The success of Myricx Bio highlights Brandon Capital’s ability to connect scientific, clinical, and commercial expertise across regions. We provide Australian portfolio companies with access to UK, European, and US capital, talent, and pharmaceutical networks, while enabling international companies to benefit from Australia’s world-class translational research and clinical trial infrastructure.”
Mohit Rawat, CEO of Myricx Bio said, “There is a widely recognised and critical unmet need for new ADC payloads that can improve the standard of care over current payloads, overcome payload resistance, improve tolerability and offer a wider therapeutic index. We are delighted that Novartis recognises the transformative promise of our NMTi-ADC platform to deliver this next-generation of potential first-in-class, highly differentiated ADC therapeutics.
“This acquisition is a tremendous endorsement of the leadership of our NMTi-ADC platform, and the insights, innovation and achievements of our founders and team towards our mission of providing more effective and better tolerated therapeutic options for cancer patients. Together with Novartis, we look forward to building upon our work to transform the landscape of cancer treatment.”
About Brandon Capital – www.brandoncapital.vc
Brandon Capital is headquartered in Melbourne with offices in Australia, New Zealand, the US and the UK. Australasia’s leading life sciences venture capital firm and is ranked in the top 50 biotech venture firms in Europe.
To date, Brandon Capital has raised more than A$1.4 billion across six funds with investors including Hostplus, HESTA, CSL, Aware Super, QIC, the Australian National Reconstruction Fund Corporation, and the Government of Western Australia.
The firm invests in high-potential medical science companies in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Europe, and the US. Its unique model includes proprietary deal flow through Brandon BioCatalyst, a collaboration of over 50 of ANZ’s leading medical research institutions, and its immersive corporate services structure enables portfolio companies to focus on research commercialisation.
With more than 30 active companies in its portfolio, Brandon Capital has been sourcing and supporting the transition of world-leading science into world-leading businesses for nearly two decades. Its portfolio includes companies developing breakthrough therapies and technologies across oncology, neuroscience, ophthalmology, immunology, and other areas of high unmet medical need.
Notable Brandon Capital investments include: Aravax, developing therapies to address food allergy including peanut allergy based in Melbourne and Oxford; AstronautX, a neuroscience company with a focus on sleep based in London; AdvanCell, a radioligand therapy company in Phase 2 trials based in Brisbane and Boston; CatalYm, developing an anti-GDF15 antibody in late-stage trials for cancer and cachexia based in Munich; and PolyActiva, developer of a sustained-release implant for glaucoma based in Melbourne.
For further information please contact
Media – Australia
Ruth Heenan, E: rheenan@bcpvc.com M: +61 (0)416 565332
Andrew Geddes, E: andrew@seedmedia.com.au M: +61 (0)408 677 734
Media – International
Sue Charles, Charles Consultants E: sue.charles@charles-consultants.com M: +44 (0)7968 726585
Chris Gardner, E: Chris@CGComms.onmicrosoft.com M: +44 (0)7956 031077
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8c5cc48f-24ff-46fb-bf7d-6339bdf3f4ef
