Dean Marc Slagel

Esperante BV (Esperante) is a Dutch based venture capital firm which was founded by Dean Slagel in 2004. Esperante is a seed investor which invests in emerging biotechnology companies engaged in the development of novel therapeutics in areas of major unmet medical need. The firm has a portfolio of investments across France, the UK and the US. The firm provides investee companies with extended management resources, particularly in business development, as a complement to their financial contribution. They also conduct scientific and intellectual property evaluations using confidential life science industry consultants.

Altacor Ltd. operates as a specialist ophthalmology company develops and markets a portfolio of products in the fields of dry eye, glaucoma and ocular infection. The company was founded by Francesca Elizabeth Crawford and David Francis Alcraft in 2007 and is headquartered in Theale, the United Kingdom.

Oxford Cancer Biomarkers Ltd. provides cancer treatment services. It offers a suite of drug-specific companion diagnostic kits that allow the biomarker to be directly measured in tumor biopsies or patient DNA and thereby patients that respond favorably to the drug identified. The company was founded by David Kerr and Nick LaThangue in 2012 and is headquartered in Oxford, the United Kingdom.

Haemostatix Ltd. designs and develops solutions for haemostasis and thrombosis. Its products include Rapid and effective haemostatic action which is new class of topical coagulant or haemostat that is applied directly to a wound during surgery to control bleeding, and ready-to-use formulations, blood-free ingredients and a new class with a unique mode of action. The company was founded by Sarah Middleton and Alison Goodall in 2003 and is headquartered in Nottingham, the United Kingdom.

Esperante Ltd. operates as a venture investment company controlled by C&P Group Holdings. The company was founded on April 29, 1986 and is headquartered in Maidenhead, the United Kingdom.

Canbex Therapeutics Ltd. engages in the development of novel peripherally-acting cannabinoid agonists and mimetics for the treatment of multiple sclerosis spasticity and pain. Its lead drug candidate, VSN 16, has been established as a potent, stable and orally-available agonist of GPR-55 with a clear anti-spasticity effect in a validated preclinical model. The company was founded by David Baker, Gavin Giovannoni, Cristina Visintin, Gareth Pryce and David Lawrence Selwood in 2005 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

Despite recent advances in diagnostics, imaging, medical devices and surgical procedures, there has been limited progress in pharmacological treatments for a number of neurological and neuro-oncological pathologies. For pathologies like central and peripheral nervous system injuries, degenerative diseases and tumours of the nervous system, the unmet medical needs are countless and there is growing expectation from the medical community, the patients and their relatives to benefit from clinically proven solutions in the future that will save and/or improve the lives of many. The limited efficacy of approved therapies for some of these pathologies and the orphan nature of others has prompted the urgent need for new researches and therapeutic strategies. At Pharmaxon, as the pioneers of a novel pharmacological approach based on cell mobility modulation, the firm is developing the future 'control keys' for improving the nervous system's endogenous regeneration, modulating neuronal networks plasticity, and inhibiting the processes which underlie tumour cell proliferation and migration. This is obtained by modulating the activity of specific adhesion molecules implicated in cell migration, cell adhesion and cell growth. Based on such a targeted strategy, Pharmaxon is opening up new avenues for the medical management of some serious, poorly-treated, neurology and neuro-oncology pathologies. To date, this has led to three R&D programs which have reached proof-of-principle, confirming the therapeutic potential of this innovative approach, in clinic stage by 2008.