Heptares was founded in 2007 as a spin-out from the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology with seed funding from MVM Life Science Partners. The Company is based on the pioneering work of the founding scientists Richard Henderson and Chris Tate, and of a wider group of MRC scientists, including Gebhard Schertler (MRC LMB), and Ed Hulme (National Institute of Medical Research, London, UK).

The Company has a founder management team of Malcolm Weir (CEO) and Fiona Marshall (CSO), who combine expertise in structure-based drug design and GPCRs with experience of drug discovery and development.

In 2009, the Company raised £21 million of equity finance in a successful Series A private round from Clarus Ventures, MVM Life Science Partners and the Novartis Option Fund.

The management is supported by an expert scientific advisory board.