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F2G International links provide bedrock for compound screening lab work 36 UNIVERSITY SPIN-OUT F2G was founded in 1998 by two academics from the University who wanted to use their research to find new antifungal drug targets. It was founded with the support of Manchester Innovation (forerunner of UMI 3 ) and was also one of the first tenants of the University's Innovation Centre (UMIC). It has been able to expand into laboratories by renting space locally from a chemicals company indigenous to the area. As well as planning to find new targets F2G brought in some compound libraries to screen, and these have subsequently turned out to be key to the continuing development of the company. Its knowledge of molecular biology has been crucial in understanding the mechanism of these novel compounds' actions, which in turn is critical to gaining regulatory approval. This screening of compounds has been the source of its mainstream current business. Investors from 2004 onward supported the change in the business model from discovery to screening and in 2005, the company attracted further investment from the California-based venture arm of Japanese company Astellas Pharmaceuticals. It is a combination of identification of new targets and the screening of acquired libraries which now provide the company's main opportunities. Based on understanding the mechanisms of action, F2G has the flexibility to know what structural modifications in the compounds are likely to be effective. International experience and networks were critical to the formation of F2G. Professor David Denning moved to Manchester from Guy's Hospital in London and took part in the company's launch. He had spent three years at Stanford University in the United States and this period was transformational in him developing an interest in fungal diseases and the application of clinical microbiology techniques to research them. Networks established in the USA and brought back to Manchester were crucial in the early stages of developing F2G.

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