For the first time, an Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) fund has been launched in the UK.
The launch of the first-of-its-kind MEDCAN Fund has been announced in a statement by Óskare Capital UK, which will advise the fund managed by Sapphire Capital Partners LLP.
Óskare said that the fund will invest in both early-stage UK companies and global companies that have the requisite operations within the UK to provide investors with access to a diversified portfolio of companies in the sector.
The Fund already has a pipeline of deals and will invest in startups across the value chain.
Óskare Capital UK director, Oliver Lamb, commented: “We were motivated to set up the MEDCAN fund with Sapphire Capital Partners LLP given that around 40 per cent of our European dealflow is coming from the UK, and the tax breaks investors can gain through the SEIS and EIS schemes are significant.”
EIS and SEIS are UK government initiative schemes that encourage growth and development by granting private UK investors significant tax breaks when investing in qualifying early-stage companies.
The MEDCAN Fund team will specifically target leading companies in the UK which it considers to have strong IP and which are developing novel therapeutics that target the endocannabinoid system. It will also invest in companies that form part of the wider medical cannabis ecosystem of services and products.
Óskare highlighted the case of UK cannabis company, GW Pharmaceuticals, the producer of the FDA-approved cannabis-based epilepsy medication Epidiolex, which was acquired by Jazz Pharmaceuticals for (USD)$7.2bn.
Óskare Capital UK director, Nicola Broughton, said: “Whilst GW is clearly an excellent example of a UK success story in the sector, we believe that there are opportunities in the market with stronger intellectual property which address far wider ranges of medical conditions that would result in even greater exits.”
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