Meet the fearless founders of MetalloBio, a pioneering biotech start-up on a life-saving mission to combat antimicrobial resistance with their revolutionary technology.
Dr Kirsty Smitten and Professor Jim Thomas are the pioneering co-founders of MetalloBio, formed in March 2021 MetalloBio is an award-winning biotech start-up developing a revolutionary antimicrobial platform technology.
At just 28, CEO Dr Kirsty Smitten was given only months to live after being diagnosed with an extremely rare and aggressive form of heart cancer. While undergoing life-saving treatment, she contracted multiple drug-resistant infections that nearly took her life.
This harrowing experience has further influenced Kirsty and her co-founder to drive MetalloBio’s technology development forward and dedicate themselves to tackling the global crisis of antimicrobial resistance.
In just two years, Kirsty and Jim have led MetalloBio to raise over £1.8 million in funding and secure major industry partnerships. Their ground-breaking platform technology is more potent than current antibiotics against a wider range of pathogens, representing an entirely new class of antimicrobials. Initially focused on hospital-acquired pneumonia, MetalloBio’s solution has the potential to treat and prevent a multitude of infectious diseases that threaten global health. The company is also developing an antimicrobial coating for medical devices to reduce healthcare-associated infections.
MetalloBio’s remarkable achievements have been recognised through multiple prestigious awards. Kirsty was named in Forbes 30 Under 30 and received the ELRIG Early Career Research Award, while MetalloBio won Start-up of the Year at the 2023 Start-up Awards and Healthcare Start-up of the Year at the 2023 Medilink UK Awards.
As finalists in the Great British Entrepreneur Awards 2023, Kirsty and Jim are being recognised as two of the UK’s most inspiring entrepreneurs. Dubbed “The Grammys of Entrepreneurship”, the Awards showcase the country’s most disruptive start-ups and game-changing business leaders. On November 20th, all eyes will be on Kirsty, Jim and MetalloBio at London’s Grosvenor House.
To learn more about these life-saving entrepreneurs and MetalloBio’s vital mission, visit MetalloBio.
