M
Mereo Biopharma
Acquiring and developing therapeutics for rare diseases and oncology
About Mereo Biopharma
Mereo BioPharma is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that focuses on acquiring, developing, and commercializing therapeutics for rare diseases and oncology. Founded in March 2015 by Dr. Denise Scots-Knight, Alastair MacKinnon, Charles Sermon, and John Richard, the company is headquartered in London, UK. The founders, including CEO Dr. Scots-Knight, came from Phase4 Partners, a venture capital firm with a background in life sciences investment that was spun out of Nomura. Their strategy was to acquire promising clinical-stage drug candidates from large pharmaceutical companies, bypassing the high-risk, early-stage discovery phase.
Read full description
Mereo launched with significant initial funding of $119 million (£76.5 million) and a portfolio of three clinical-stage candidates acquired from Novartis, which in turn took an equity stake in Mereo. The company has since expanded its pipeline, which includes candidates for osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) and alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency-associated lung disease (AATD-LD). Its primary product candidates are setrusumab for OI and alvelestat for AATD. It also has two oncology candidates, etigilimab (anti-TIGIT) and navicixizumab.
The company's business model is centered on R&D investment and strategic collaborations. Revenue is generated through upfront payments, milestone payments based on development progress, and potential future royalties from licensing agreements with partners like Ultragenyx, Feng Biosciences, and ReproNovo SA. For example, the partnership with Ultragenyx for setrusumab includes potential milestone payments and royalties, while Mereo retains commercial rights in the EU and UK. The company listed on NASDAQ in April 2019 after merging with OncoMed.
At a glance
- Founded
- 2015
- Headquarters
- London, United Kingdom
- Listing
- IPO 2016
- Sector
- Biotech & Life Sciences
Knowledge graph
More headlines
Investors
From Dealroom's funding and investor records, grouped by the round each investor first entered.
Series B and later19 investors entered at this stage
Invesco Perpetual
Woodford Investment Management
HSBC Innovation Banking
Kreos Capital
Novartis
OrbiMed
Pontifax Funds
Boxer Capital
Commodore Capital
Aspire Capital Fund
Janus Henderson Investors
Citadel
Vivo Capital
Samsara BioCapital
Rock Springs Capital
Deerfield
Perceptive Advisors- RMRubric Capital Management
Frazier Life Sciences
Source: Dealroom Talent Intelligence.
Global footprint
team presence
Market sentiment
An AI-synthesised read of the highest-engagement posts about Mereo Biopharma on X, ranked by likes and reposts, corporate channels excluded.
Reading the room on X — pulling top posts and synthesizing themes…
Source: X recent search ranked by engagement (likes + retweets) · Synthesis by Claude · Cached for 1 hour
See Mereo Biopharma on the full Dealroom platform
Live deal flow, founder pedigree, hiring signals, revenue trajectory, and the full cap table.