Procarta was spun out from the John Innes Centre and Plant Biosciences Limited in March 2008. The founders, Dr. Michael McArthur and Prof. Mervyn Bibb, discovered a novel way to control expression of genes in bacteria (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 105: 1020) and developed the technology to treat drug-resistant bacteria. The company raised seed funding in late 2008 and achieved key scientific milestones, including the demonstration that the lead product was effective in an MRSA infection model. This, in combination with a strong IP position, enabled Procarta to secure major new investment in late 2010 with the round led by the VC fund Morningside Group.

BOARD

CHAIRMAN

Dr. David Knowles (SKB, RRP, CellCentric, Piramed)

CSO & DIRECTOR

Dr. Michael McArthur (Regulome, JIC Faculty)

DIRECTOR

Dr. Issac Cheng (Morningside)

DIRECTOR

Mark White (Rainbow Seed Fund)

OBSERVER

Dr. Martin Stocks (PBL/Iceni Seedcorn Fund)