News & Events

Venture-backed pharmaceutical company Hatchtech Pty Ltd has concluded a $6.3 million capital raising to conduct a Phase IIa clinical trial for its very promising head lice treatment.

Investors included existing and new investors including the University of Melbourne Endowment Trust, GBS Venture Partners through an Australian Government IIFF program, Uniseed and Queensland BioCapital Fund (QBF). A new investor is OneVentures which this year launched a new Australian Government IIF-backed fund the OneVentures Innovation Fund.

Hatchtech’s lead product DeOvo™ is a novel therapy for treating head lice infestations. Following the recent successful completion of a Phase 2a study in adult populations, this new funding will go to Phase 2 development of DeOvo™ including a Phase 2b clinical trial in the target paediatric population.

“Hatchtech is delighted to have secured involvement from its existing strong investor base and from OneVentures.  We look forward to completing a successful Phase 2b trial with DeOvo,” said Stewart Washer, retiring chairman of the board.

Dr Paul Kelly, executive director of OneVentures and Cherrell Hirst, QBF CEO, will join the Hatchtech board with Dr Kelly appointed as chairman replacing Stewart Washer. 

Peter Devine, CEO of Uniseed, will replace John Kurek as the Uniseed representative.

“This $6.3m investment into Hatchtech demonstrates the willingness of Australian venture capital to fund high-quality technologies. The board is grateful to Stewart for his leadership and guidance since joining the Hatchtech board, and John for his invaluable assistance.  We have an exceptional executive team in Vern Bowles (founder and CSO) and Lewis Schultz (COO and head of development) and are now looking to recruit a CEO,” said Dr Kelly.

“DeOvo is supported by convincing phase 2a data and a compelling competitive position compared with existing products addressing this large and growing global market,” said Dr Ross Macdonald, non-executive director.

“We look forward to working with the company to complete a successful Phase 2b study which we believe will deliver opportunities for strategic partnerships as the product moves to market. OneVentures regards Hatchtech as a strong first investment for the fund,” said Dr Kelly.