Edinburgh drug discovery accelerator targets fresh investment as new director named

Edinburgh-based drug discovery accelerator Cumulus Oncology is targeting a fresh investment round after appointing a new director.

Nicola Broughton takes up a non-executive directorship as Europe’s first oncology drug discovery accelerator continues to scale up.

Broughton, a former investment director at Mercia Asset Management, is the managing partner and co-founder of Oskare Capital, and is described as an experienced life sciences investor, executive and non-executive director with strong expertise in identifying and supporting university spin-outs.

Clare Wareing, chief executive and co-founder of Cumulus said: “While Nicola has been on our advisory board since last June, we wanted to get her more involved with the business and we couldn’t be happier to expand this in a more formal role. Her know-how and experience of the sector is second-to-none, and she brings a multi-faceted perspective having both helped to lead and invest in UK life sciences and biotech.”

Clare Wareing and Nicola Broughton of Cumulus Oncology. Picture: Stewart Attwood

Broughton added: “Cumulus is one of the most exciting companies on the UK life sciences scene. I’ve had the pleasure of working with Clare and the team for several months now and the time seemed right to step into the non-executive director position as the company moves into its next phase of growth.”

Meanwhile, Clive Stanway and Jackie Walling have joined Cumulus’s advisory board. Stanway was the longstanding chief scientific officer at Cancer Research Technology, a specialist commercialisation and development company owned by charity Cancer Research UK.

San Francisco-based Walling is said to be a pharmaceutical executive with extensive experience in the global development of anti-cancer drugs.

Wareing added: “Clive and Jackie bring unique skills to our advisory board and, in Jackie’s case, her addition gives us an important bridgehead into the North American market as we look to expand Cumulus’s network and activities there over the next 12 to 18 months.”

Cumulus was founded in 2017 to create spin-out companies around novel anti-cancer therapies that are fast-tracked through development and target cancers that do not respond well to existing treatments.

The venture secured a £1.7 million investment round led by Eos Advisory last July and in September founded its first spin-out, Modulus Oncology, alongside the University of Sheffield.

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