Focusing on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)
EMV Capital’s wholly owned subsidiary, Moirai Acquisitions Limited, has acquired certain assets from Destiny Pharma, relating to its novel XF drug platform. This platform constitutes an ultra-rapid mechanism that reduces the chance of bacteria becoming resistant to its action and has advantages over traditional antibiotics.
The agreement
Moirai has acquired Destiny’s trading name, website and certain assets including IP, stock, and contracts, relating to the compound XF-73, and certain associated compounds. The consideration includes an Initial Consideration in cash of £475,000 (plus VAT) and Deferred Consideration of up to £2 million (plus VAT).
The Deferred Consideration is made up as follows:
- £600,000 payable on the launch of a future US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Phase 3 clinical trial in respect of XF-73;
- a further £900,000 on receipt of US regulatory approval for the commercial distribution, sale or marketing of the resulting XF-73 product; and
- up to a further £500,000 on receipt of a potential one-off milestone fee relating to net sales due under a regional development and commercialisation agreement with the investment arm of a large pharmaceutical company headquartered in Hong Kong.
Funding information
The Initial Consideration has been funded by third party funding, syndicated by EMV Capital Partners Limited, the Company’s wholly owned VC and corporate finance firm.
Prior to any launch of a Phase 3 clinical trial or securing US regulatory approval, Moirai intends to carry out further fundraising.
EMV Capital Partners has also led an equity fundraising round for the purposes of working capital, which is anticipated to complete in September 2025 following post-acquisition structuring to attract Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) investors.
About Destiny Pharma and XF-73
Destiny Pharma was an AIM-quoted clinical stage biotech company focused on the development and commercialisation of novel medicines to prevent and cure life threatening infections. Its XF-73 programme was focused on the prevention of post-surgical site infections, a major part in the fight against the worldwide epidemic of antibiotic resistant S. aureus (including MRSA). Having been quoted on AIM until 13 August 2024, the company subsequently appointed administrators on 21 August 2024 and liquidators on 1 August 2025.
Key potential benefits of the XF drug platform acquired by Bidco include:
- ultra-rapid bacteria kill;
- ability to kill bacteria in any growth phase;
- ability to kill bacteria within staphylococcal bacterial biofilms;
- active against all Gram positive bacteria tested to date and selected Gram negative bacteria; and
- no bacterial (MRSA) resistance is seen to emerge.
Prior to going into administration, Destiny Pharma had completed a Phase 2b trial for its nasal gel and had advanced plans to launch a Phase 3 clinical trial.
Dr Ilian Iliev, CEO of EMV Capital and Investor Director of Bidco, commented:
“We are delighted to welcome Moirai and its XF-73 assets to our Venture Building Programme and the EMV Capital portfolio. This transaction represents another example of our capital efficient investment approach, whereby EMV Capital Partners is able to deploy its multi-disciplinary team to structure and execute complex Venture Building investment opportunities and introduce these to its network of supportive investors. EMV Capital has maintained a significant direct stake in this exciting business whist also growing its third party assets under management.
“As a VC we are focused on obtaining high-returns for our investors, but equally we believe that where possible such efforts should be focused on areas of high social impact. Our investment is in the extremely important area of Anti-Microbial Resistance, one of the top global public health threats, and within that specifically on preventing hospital infections and in particular post-surgical infections. We hope to show how our capital efficient investment approach can be applied to such contexts.
“The EMV Capital and Bidco teams have been working closely on this project since July and we look forward to supporting the new management team in the execution of their planned strategic development of XF-73.”