Why we invested in ToxoTech
There is an odd and terrible beauty in Botox. I’m not referring to its aesthetic application, the small fact that immediately comes to mind. You see, that small fact pales in the shadow of a much bigger one: through scientific endeavour, humanity has successfully harnessed the most lethal toxin known on earth. Not just controlled it, but mastered it to the extent that we use it for a routine and purely cosmetic procedure, without a second thought about its deadliness.
This is extraordinary: a single teaspoon of purified botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) could, in theory, contain enough material to kill 35 million people. Yet through science and precision manufacturing, it has become an increasingly essential therapeutic tool in medicine, administered to nearly 10 million people every year.
No, this isn’t about aesthetics. It’s about the three surprising lessons we learned about BoNTs:
I. Evolution’s modular design
The slow chisel of natural selection shaped BoNT into a modular protein, resulting in seven serotypes with diverse properties. We’ve come far in understanding this, but many mysteries remain. For instance, why BoNT evolved into such a potent and selective molecule, given that its natural target, the nervous system, offers little obvious advantage to the bacteria that produce it. More importantly, BoNTs’ modularity makes them particularly suited for creative reengineering.
II. The rapid expansion of medical use
Not everyone knows that the first FDA-approved BoNT, Oculinum, was used to treat medical conditions like strabismus (crossed eyes) and blepharospasm (eye twitching). Over time, clinicians noticed an unexpected side effect: wrinkles around injection sites disappeared. This ultimately led to an FDA approval in 2002, after which Botox became a household name as an aesthetic drug.
But the real story lies in medicine. During the past decade we have discovered the BoNTs are very well suited to treat cervical dystonia, spasticity, migraines, bladder disorders, and more. Today, medical use accounts for the majority of BoNT used, and the list of indications continues to grow.
III. A stagnant standard of care
For decades, the standard of care has remained largely unchanged. Recent modifications of the BoNT A serotype, like liquid formulations, are steps forward, but their impact on patient outcomes remains limited. Several barriers still prevent BoNT from reaching its full potential across a broader range of conditions. BoNTs with shorter or longer durations, or greater potency, could make treatment accessible to more patients across a wider range of conditions.
We discovered all this, and more, when we met the team behind ToxoTech. We encountered deep curiosity, decades of scientific excellence, and an unwavering focus to improve the standard of care. Given our experience of supporting early-stage biotechs, our long view and our confidence in the team, it was clear that we wanted to back ToxoTech.
Biotechnological progress is never linear, except in hindsight. It’s jumpy, uneven, and unpredictable. But when the potential is this profound, we believe there is a future where humanity not only harnesses and tweaks BoNTs, but fundamentally redesigns them to unlock even greater benefits for even more patient groups.
We are very proud to support ToxoTech in their mission to create new botulinum neurotoxins for the greater good of humankind.