A new vision for eyecare: Healome Therapeutics’ spin-out from the University of Birmingham
Healome Therapeutics
Our specialist life sciences sector group assisted Healome Therapeutics, an ophthalmology-focused therapeutics company, with its spin-out from the University of Birmingham. What began as advice on Healome’s establishment and seed funding has developed into an ongoing relationship, as the business looks to move into clinical trials.
Spin-out expertise and specialist support for continuous growth
Healome Therapeutics is a clinical stage therapeutics company, based in Birmingham Research Park, that focuses on ocular surface diseases and injuries. Much of its work concerns the improvement of eyedrop therapeutics through its proprietary technology, HealoTEAR, which provides enhanced drug retention, lubrication, and protection. Healome’s ultimate goal is to create products offering better, safer, and easier to use treatments that fit in with patients’ daily lives.
The technology underpinning Healome’s products emerged out of academic research conducted at the University of Birmingham’s School of Chemical Engineering. Through our presence in the local Birmingham business community, partner and life sciences specialist Dr Lisa Page was contacted by Healome’s CEO, Richard Williams, when he was preparing to spin-out.
Our life sciences and technology sector groups – comprised of lawyers from across the corporate, commercial, IP, immigration, employment, and corporate tax practices – offer deep expertise in aiding spin-outs and start-ups, and, as such, we were well-placed to help Healome with its needs.
As part of the spin-out process, we handled the licensing of IP and the transfer of intellectual property rights from the university. Members of our corporate team acted on the initial transaction, establishing the company structure, including drafting shareholders’ agreements, and securing seed fund investment, which is crucial for any spin-out in its primary stages. Our employment team, meanwhile, assisted with employment contracts, including directors services agreements.
Healome Therapeutics was incorporated and spun-out in 2021, but our partnership has continued to the present day, most recently by representing the company during an additional funding round to augment its future growth. We are also preparing to help Healome with its current goal of moving into clinical trials testing. Healome’s HealoTEAR technology has been approved by the MHRA to enter the initial phase of trials, but doing so requires clinical trial specific agreements – a distinct area of legal work in which we have particular experience.
Key takeaways
Tailored legal guidance for university spin-outs
With our in-depth experience of advising high-growth spin-outs and technology start-ups from universities, research institutions, and corporations, we were able to provide Healome Therapeutics with the knowledge to solve challenges that are specific to early-stage companies.
Comprehensive support throughout the business lifecycle
This was by no means a case of assisting with the initial transaction and then parting ways. We worked with Healome from its inception through to the current day, building a strong partnership where the guidance we provided has scaled with the success of the company itself.
Advice that meets clients where they are
Our team knew the importance of spending time with the founders of Healome in order to truly understand their particular needs. We prioritised communicating the considerations and implications of spinning out in a way that was free of legal jargon, and allowed them to focus on their priority – expanding and strengthening the business.
Key facts
1 in 4
people suffer from dry eye disease in the UK
£4.1
billion
spent by the NHS on eyecare per year
1 in 5
of all UK clinical trials conducted in the West Midlands
2
million+
number of people in the UK living with sight loss
What’s been great about the relationship is that they feel part of our team. It doesn’t seem transactional, it’s like having legal inside the company, very much part of the journey, and getting to the finish line together.
