Edinburgh university spin-out Kynos Therapeutics, which has collaborated with GlaxoSmithKline on treatments for conditions affecting the immune system, has raised £9 million.

An initial £6.5m was led by Epidarex Capital, joined by IP Group and Scottish Enterprise. Kynos has also been awarded £2.5m through an Innovate UK grant to fund a first-time in human phase one clinical trial of its lead drug.

The finance will be used to build out its core team and to fund pre-clinical work.

Kynos’s core founding team are leading experts in biology and medicinal chemistry with clinical, translational and drug discovery experience. CEO Damian J Mole and CSO Scott Webster have been supported by Edinburgh Innovations, the University of Edinburgh’s commercialisation service.

Professor Mole said: “Our programmes are based on extensive industry collaborative research with a robust science base.”

Following the financing Dr Elizabeth Roper, partner at Epidarex Capital, and Dr Tassos Konstantinou, investment manager, Life Sciences at IP Group, have joined Kynos’s board of directors.