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British Business Bank invests £10.5 million in EpilepsyGTx

Press release 10 December 2025

The British Business Bank has invested £10.5m in EpilepsyGTx, a biotechnology company focused on research and development of cutting-edge gene therapies to treat refractory epilepsy, as part of a $33 million Series A financing round.

The round includes an investment from XGEN Venture and a global biopharmaceutical company. The funding will enable the delivery of first-in-human Phase 1/2a clinical trials to establish the safety and efficacy of the company’s lead gene therapy programme EPY201 in a broad population of patients with focal refractory epilepsy (FRE).

FRE describes a group of disorders in which patients experience seizures that arise from a specific part of the brain, leading to recurrent disabling events, cognitive impairment and psychosocial burden. This affects about 10 million patients worldwide, including 2 million patients in the US, UK and EU.

EPY201 offers the potential to eradicate seizures in patients with FRE with a single intervention, dramatically improving survival and quality of life. This offers FRE patients the prospect of seizure freedom without resection or ablation of brain tissue and without the chronic use of multiple antiseizure medicines.

EpilepsyGTx will also advance a pipeline of transformative gene therapies targeting refractory epilepsy and disorders of neuronal hyperexcitability.

Leandros Kalisperas, Chief Investment Officer, British Business Bank, said:

The UK’s life sciences sector continues to produce world-class innovation, and the Bank is committed to building that momentum. Through cornerstone commitments to leading sector funds and by being the UK’s most active late-stage investor, the Bank is helping IP-rich companies access the capital they need to scale in the UK.

Carmine Circelli, Investment Director, British Business Bank, said:

Epilepsy GTx is built on world leading expertise from UCL, pursuing an innovative approach to modulating neurons in epilepsy and backed by compelling preclinical data. If this mechanism is validated in clinical trials, the company has the potential to be category-defining in epilepsy treatment, addressing substantial unmet patient need and presenting a significant commercial opportunity.

Nicolas Koebel, Chief Executive Officer of EpilepsyGTx, commented:

Refractory epilepsy is a devastating condition causing unpredictable and life-threatening seizures, and affecting millions of patients worldwide. Our novel gene therapy EPY201 delivered directly to the seizure focus has the potential to stop seizures with a single, minimally invasive administration. In doing so, it will change the way refractory epilepsy has been treated for decades. We are proud to have the support of such high calibre investors as we progress into clinical trials.

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Notes to editors

About the British Business Bank

The British Business Bank is the UK government’s economic development bank. Established in November 2014, its mission is to drive sustainable growth and prosperity across the UK and to enable the transition to a net zero economy, by improving access to finance for smaller businesses. Its remit is to design, deliver and efficiently manage UK-wide smaller business access to finance programmes for the UK government.

The British Business Bank’s core programmes support £23bn 1  of finance to almost 64,000 2  smaller businesses.

British Business Bank plc is a public limited company registered in England and Wales, registration number 08616013, registered office at Steel City House, West Street, Sheffield, S1 2GQ. It is a development bank wholly owned by HM Government. British Business Bank plc and its subsidiaries are not banking institutions and do not operate as such. With the exception of BBB Investment Services Limited they are not authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority or the Financial Conduct Authority. BBB Investment Services Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. A complete legal structure chart for the group can be found at www.british-business-bank.co.uk.

The above transaction is operated by British Patient Capital Limited, a wholly owned commercial subsidiary of British Business Bank plc.

British Patient Capital Limited is registered in England and Wales with company number 11271076, and registered office at Steel City House, West Street, Sheffield, S1 2GQ. British Patient Capital makes commitments and invests on its own behalf and on behalf of third-party investors whose investments British Patient Capital manages.

The transaction described above does not constitute or imply any endorsement, warranty or recommendation by the UK government, the British Business Bank plc, its subsidiaries or any other party in respect of Epilepsy ETx or its products or services.

About EpilepsyGTx

At EpilepsyGTx our mission is to make patients with refractory epilepsy seizure-free. We are developing a portfolio of cutting-edge gene therapies which are based on pioneering research from the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology. For more information, please visit: www.epilepsygtx.com.

About EPY201

EPY201 is an investigational gene therapy targeting focal refractory epilepsy. EPY201, also known as AAV9-CAMK2A-EKC, utilizes an AAV9 capsid, a CAMK2A promoter, and an engineered naturally occurring form of the Kv1.1 potassium channel (referred to as “EKC”). The therapy is administered directly to the target seizure focus, the specific region of the brain responsible for seizures, via intraparenchymal delivery.

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