A university PhD graduate has become an overnight millionaire after his biotech company was sold for more than £620million to a global healthcare giant.
Ziylo – a firm created by Professor Anthony Davis, his PhD student Harry Destecroix and businessman Tom Smart – has been bought by Novo Nordisk of Denmark.
The University of Bristol said the deal for its spin-out firm could transform diabetes treatment by leading to the world’s first glucose-responsive insulin being developed.
Professor Anthony Davis (left) and his PhD student Harry Destecroix have worked together on Ziylo at the University of Bristol, and it has now been sold for £623million

Ziylo’s glucose binding molecules are synthetic molecules designed by Mr Davis (right, pictured in the laboratory with Dr Destecroix)
Dr Destecroix, 31, who lives in a detached house worth £285,000 in Bristol’s affluent suburb of Redland, admitted on Twitter that he was ‘really excited’ by the deal.
The company is owned by its investors and directors, including Dr Destecroix – and £623million is the total potential deal value over ten years.
This is said to be dependent on clinical and regulatory milestones being met during the next decade, which would be distributed to all the shareholders.
More than 382million people worldwide, including four million in Britain, are said to have diabetes, which is a metabolic disorder affecting blood sugar levels.

Dr Destecroix (left, seen with colleague Michael Tomsett) has had great success with his firm
Everyone with Type 1 diabetes and some people with Type 2 diabetes needs to take insulin, either by injection or a pump, to control their blood glucose levels.
Ziylo has developed technology which could help enable the next generation of insulin which would be able to react and adapt to glucose levels in the blood.
This would eliminate the risk of dangerously low blood sugar levels, known as hypoglycaemia, and give people with the condition better metabolic control.
Davis Research Group scientists in the university’s school of chemistry had been working on the problem for years before Ziylo was established as a start-up in 2014.

Dr Destecroix (far right) with the research team at the Univesity of Bristol’s school of chemistry

The team at Unit DX in Bristol, including 31-year-old PhD student Dr Destecroix (far left)
Ziylo’s glucose binding molecules are synthetic molecules that were designed by Mr Davis, who has been researching synthetic sugar receptors for 20 years.
Dr Destecroix, Ziylo’s chief executive, said: ‘Novo Nordisk, as the leader in the diabetes field, is the ideal company to maximise the potential of the Ziylo’s glucose binding molecules in glucose responsive insulins and diabetes applications, and it brings hope of a truly ground-breaking treatment to diabetes patients.’
The acquisition announced last week gives Novo Nordisk full rights to Ziylo’s glucose binding molecule platform to develop glucose responsive insulins.
The development of glucose responsive insulins is a key area for Novo Nordisk in its effort to develop a next generation of insulin which would lead to a safer and more effective insulin therapy.
Mr Davis added: ‘The glucose responsive insulin we will develop with Novo Nordisk combines a natural molecule (insulin) with an artificial component (Ziylo’s glucose binding molecules).
‘This combination of natural and unnatural could be a new approach to biodesign. These unique molecules were inspired by nature and work in much the same way as natural glucose receptors.
‘A group of chemists, called supramolecular chemists, have been working on this problem for many years.

Dr Destecroix was born in Winchester in 1987 and earned his doctorate in chemistry in 2014

Unit DX, a science incubator in Bristol which was set up by the founders of Ziylo last year
‘Often, they make molecules which behave quite like natural molecules, but usually they don’t work quite well enough for real-world applications.
‘The success of the Ziylo molecules shows that, with persistence, the problems can be solved and that biological molecules can be matched as well as mimicked.’
Professor Nishan Canagarajah, pro vice-chancellor for research at the university, said: ‘The university is proud of its cutting-edge research which has potential to generate major societal impact.
‘It is gratifying to see our research being developed to the point where it has the potential to make a real difference to people’s lives.
‘The acquisition of Ziylo by Novo Nordisk will allow this technology to take the next leap forward.
‘Well done to the team at Ziylo and to Professor Davis and his team at the university for getting to this exciting point.’
Dr Destecroix was born in Winchester in 1987 and used to live in the quaint Hampshire village of Liss. He earned his doctorate in chemistry four years ago.
He was responsible for setting up Unit DX last year, a science incubator in Bristol where up to 100 experts work in 16 laboratories across a 15,000 sq ft facility.
Writing last November, he said: ‘At home, when my parents told me I couldn’t do something, I asked them why. It was the same at school, and it’s been the same in my professional life.’
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