A patent-rich equine health company focused on optimizing digestion, gut health and the microbiome.
Lead investor
Julie Newman
How the company differentiates themselves
HIGHLIGHTS
What our experts say
I see a qualified team, in all areas (science, managing, business dev)
The science sounds solid and their test too.
Probiotics were always used, but now they are going to be the corner-stone of future medicine. This project is right on time.
The idea behind the product is excellent. Great potential.
Good team of experts in the scientific and business/marketing fields.
The team and the project are well built and it’s likely to be successful.
The idea looks good, the team behind it looks great and I believe there should be enough funding available down the line as the company is backed by a great and unique fund.
It’s a brilliant idea. A similar idea has been successfully implemented for milch cattle, so I’m pretty confident that it will also work well for the equine sector.
The final ratings
Team
Science
Innovation
Business
Finances
Company Overview
Who we are
TEAM
Founder and director of Anglo Scientific and Radio Physics. Investor and director in technology companies for the past 20 years. Previously served as an executive board director of Anglo Pacific PLC. Successfully established two investment organisations in addition to running his family’s investment company. He has served as honorary Chilean Consul in Scotland for the last 20 years.
Teo Forcht Dagi, MD, DMedSc, DAC, MPH, MBA, FRCSEd is a Harvard-trained neurosurgeon, a Distinguished Scholar and Professor at Queen’s University Belfast, and faculty member at Harvard Medical School. He has managed venture capital investments in the biomedical arena for two decades, and his track record includes several NASDAQ quoted companies with an aggregate exit value exceeding $10bn.
James Leighton Davis is a specialist business growth and customer acquisition consultant and adviser to PE and VC-backed businesses. With experience across B2B and B2C markets, he has previously supported the portfolio companies of Octopus Investments, Bain Capital, Advent International and Montagu Private Equity. He has particular expertise in launching innovative products across the scientific and technical markets including FinTech, EdTech and AgTech.
A driven professional with a communication, business support and marketing background. Mairi previously worked on multi-million pound JV infrastructure projects gaining experience in Compulsory Purchase Order negotiations, stakeholder management, political engagement and public relations.
Qualified in Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge, Dr Rosemary Waring gained her PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Birmingham and now researches the interactions of gut flora with gastrointestinal function in its School of Biosciences. Dr Waring has written over 230 research papers and many book chapters on toxicology. She is a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathology. Her research with Professor Hunter, funded by the Wellcome Foundation, demonstrated the link between abnormal colonic microflora and gut dysfunction.
Honorary Consultant Physician at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, visiting Professor of Medicine at Cranfield University and a recognised authority on diseases of the gut. Prof. Hunter has contributed over 150 research papers to medical journals including The Lancet, Nature and the British Medical Journal. He has been a consultant to international companies including Shell, Unilever, Nutricia and Marlow Foods, and is a Fellow of the American Gastroenterological Association and the American College of Gastroenterology.
Head of the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Surrey. Prof. Proudman has published widely on equine intestinal diseases including intestinal parasitism and grass sickness (dysautonomia). His current research focus is on the intestinal microbiome of the horse in health and disease.
Events horses for clients from Pre-Novice to Advanced level Three Day Events, competes internationally and trains riders of all levels. Jo was one of the youngest Pony Club Branch Chief Instructors in the country.
Caroline is the Acting Head of Veterinary Education and Head of Department for Veterinary Clinical Sciences at the University of Surrey and was formerly a Senior Lecturer at the University of Liverpool Veterinary School. Her research has mainly focused on the photoperiodic regulation and other aspects of metabolism and reproduction in large domestic mammals.
Purpose of the project
FROM PROBLEM TO SOLUTION
THE PROJECT
TharosTM is focused on restoring health gut function in Equines. Malfermentation in the gut caused by an unbalanced microbiome leads to poor condition and performance, and in some case colic and laminitis.
Studies have shown that key enzymes can help maintain and preserve normal equine body function, optimize the microbiome in the gut, and prevent malfermentation. These findings have led to the development of EquiNectar®, a proprietary dietary supplement. Tharos™ anticipates launching selectively and strategically to the UK market in Q4 2017, followed by a launch to the wider UK market in Q2/3 2018. Tharos™ is developing additional products for equine health, initially focused on three conditions that are important causes of equine mortality and morbidity: laminitis, metabolic syndrome and colic.
THE PROBLEM
Modern feeds do not provide an optimum diet for the horse. Digestive upsets are common because the critical balance of microflora in the horse’s gut, the microbiome is easily perturbed. Perturbations of the microbiome lead to malfermentation, a leaky gut, the formation of toxic substances and the release of damaging bacterial endotoxins into the horse’s circulation.
Horses often develop a cycle of illness beginning with diarrhoea or constipation, and progressing to colic (intestinal disease) and laminitis (hoof disease). Colic and laminitis are both important causes of equine mortality and morbidity. These conditions currently have no known cure, and represent a pressing unmet need in veterinary medicine.
THE SOLUTION
Tharos has developed EquiNectar®, an exzyme-rich malt extract that has been scientifically proven to address malfermentation and pertubations of the microbiome, and to reduce endotoxin and acetate levels. High acetate levels are correlated with insulin resistance and related problems in the horse. There have been no instances of toxicity.
- EquiNectar® restores and maintains the horse’s microbiome to ensure a healthy gut. The microbiome has been shown to decrease the species known to contribute to toxicity (eg Clostridia, Streptococci) and increase those associated with the healthy gut (Bacterioides). As a result, race horses which commonly alternate between states of constipation and diarrhoea when fed a high-concentrate diet have been found to revert to a normal intestinal function, similar to that found in free-grazing animals
- EquiNectar® improves performance and condition by assisting in the digestion of carbohydrates, through a process which leads to more efficient conversion of feed to energy. Efficient carbohydrate digestion is key to equine health.
- Preliminary data indicate that EquiNectar®, through similar physiological mechanisms, may also help prevent and treat laminitis, an inflammatory condition of the hoof and its vascular supply which can disable a horse. Additional data is being accumulated.
- Tharos is also exploring the feasibility of introducing a diagnostic for laminitis based on novel chemical biomarkers to the market by 2020. The link to these biomarkers is patent pending.
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