It does not happen too often that a startup emerges from stealth to commercialise 20 years of ground-breaking research carried out at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology. Even less that such technology allows to systematically reprogram whole genomes and give (synthetic) birth to new organisms, but also new polymers and materials. Welcome to Constructive Bio, the new New in biotech. Disputes in London courts over key employees are however no news Big Pharma, ask otherwise to Chris Sheldon. PsiOxus Therapeutics has appointed Howard David as CEO, and Jamie Campbell has left Abcam to join Abzena. Evonetix has announced early access program for its semiconductor synthesised DNA and Congenica is expanding into oncology. The House of Lords is catching up with the struggles of doing research in the UK while the Government is pushing for a regulation on AI base on six (6!) criteria. Kate Binham has published a book and the UK has become the first country to approve a COVID vaccine that targets both the original strain and the Omicron. Jose Feliciano is singing this week to indeed, light our fires. Let’s dive in!

Cambridge-based Constructive Bio has emerged from stealth raising $15 million seed funding. The round was led by Ahren Innovation Capital and participated by Amadeus Capital Partners, General Inception, and OMX Ventures. Constructive Bio has an exclusive license from the Medical Research Council (MRC) to intellectual property developed by Prof Jason Chin’s Laboratory at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology. The startup benefits from two proprietary platforms. First, a large scale DNA assembly technology capable of building whole bacterial genomes from scratch. Second, a genome reprogramming technology to recode whole genomes, which can yield novel unnatural elements and products. The proceedings of the round will be used to advance both technology platforms with the aim of commercialising. The company has appointed Dr Ola Wlodek (former Chief Operating Officer at Reflection Therapeutics) as Chief Executive Officer and brings over 15 years of experience and is an expert in natural product biosynthesis and unnatural peptide cyclisation.

Edinburgh-based MiAlgae has raised £2.3 million in equity and grant funding. The round was led by the Conduit Impact Fund, managed by Ascension, and participated by SIS Ventures, Equity gap, Old College Capital, Zero Waste Scotland, and Scottish Enterprise. MiAlgae was founded in 2016 to produce a sustainable source of Omega-3 for animal and human consumption. The company has developed a novel biotechnology platform which uses low-value coproducts from the food and drink industry as a feedstock to initially grow microalgae rich in Omega-3 oils. The proceedings of the round will be used to support the company in its growth plans and setting up a commercial demonstrator facility, due to be completed early in 2023, to drive commercial traction. MiAlgae currently focuses on the pet food sector and aims to expand into the aquaculture sector.

No news on this front (August… sigh), so let me share with you you a piece of intel I learnt last week:

“- What is a gentleman?

- A man who knows how to play bagpipes but doesn’t.”

ps. I actually like bagpipes.

Cambridge-based digital health startup Congenica has selected the GenomOncology’s Precision Oncology Platform (POP) for the development of a novel in vitro diagnostics (IVD) Precision Oncology Solution. Congenica is developing a fully automated data analysis application, aimed at improving usability and scalability of genomic data for routine oncology clinical practice. Its proprietary technology roots from pioneering research from the Wellcome Sanger Institute. This collaboration signifies the expansion of Congenica’s Clinical Decision Support (CDS) Platform into oncology ad will allow to establish regional therapy recommendations. GenomOncology’s POP is designed to harmonise precision oncology information and includes an extensive set of annotations, ontologies and public, licensed, and proprietary data sets.

Cambridge-based Evonetix has announced early access program for semiconductor synthesised DNA. The company has now opened its early access program and applications/projects can be submitted. Evonetix currently aims to tackle the DNA supply bottleneck in the field of synthetic biology and has developed a platform that brings together its proprietary semiconductor chip design and thermally-controlled DNA synthesis chemistry.

Nottingham-based Phenotypeca has entered a collaboration agreement with Bioconto develop industrial baking yeast strains for the expression of peptides for therapeutic treatment. Phenotypeca owns the world’s largest unique collection of baker’s yeast strains, bred and engineered for stable industrial recombinant protein production. Biocon is one of India’s largest pharmaceutical companies. The 2-stage project will begin with Phenotypeca’s PhenoStart process for R&D yeast strain development and the best strains will move to PhenoDev for development. Financial details or therapeutic targets have not been disclosed.

Medicines Discovery Catapult (MDC) has joined forces with ZEISS to collaborate in the advancement of microscopy solutions. The partnership apply advanced microscopy workflows such as confocal, light-sheet, multi-photon or super-resolution microscopy to measure the interaction between drugs and biological systems, as well as develop assays tailored to drug discovery. The objective of the agreement is to produce a live cell imaging and image analysis pipeline that can be deployed to assess novel drug delivery technologies and therapeutics.

A cross-party House of Lords committee has agreed “the UK must make significant changes to its R&D strategy if it is to achieve the government’s goal of becoming a science and tech superpower”. The report states it is necessary to clearly define the UK’s science and technology strategy, repairing international relationships, and setting out specific reforms to public funding for innovation, focusing on R&D.

PsiOxus Therapeutics has appointed Howard Davis, Ph.D., as Chief Executive Officer. Davis joins from Atlas Venture where he was part of launching Third Harmonic Bio where he was Chief Operations Officer (COO). During his tenure as COO, he managed to raise $155 million in private financing to support the he company’s advancement of its lead clinical stage molecule. Dr Davis also served as Principal at Flagship Pioneering. PsiOxus is a clinical-stage biotech company working on novel systemic immun-oncology therapeutics for sustained reprogramming solid tumour microenvironment. The company has developed Tumour-Specific Immuno-Gene (T-SIGn) viral vector platform which leverages enadenotucirev, a chimeric group B adenovirus, as a viral vector system. T-SIGn can deliver multiple transgene payloads capable of reprogramming primary and metastatic solid tumours. There are currently two programs in clinic, one producing an immune activating antibody (NG-350A) and another one producing a bispecific antibody targeting the tumour stroma alongside additional immuno-modulatory transgenes.

Abzena has appointed Jamie Campbell as Vice President of Research and Development. Campbell joins from Abcam where he was Director of Custom Solutions (EMEA) and Head of the Custom Service for the Global Team. In the past he held senior research positions in Kymab, MedImmune and GSK, and was part of the BIA Antibody Task Force during the COVID-19 outbreak.

The UK has become the first country to approve a COVID vaccine that targets both the original strain and the Omicron BA.1 variant. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the Commission on Human Medicines(the government's independent science advisory body) granted approval to Moderna’s Spikevax bivalent Original/Omicron vaccine. It remains to be disclosed by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation how the deployment of the vaccine will be managed. The decision from the MHRA is based on clinical trial data from a phase 2/3 trial, in which mRNA-1273.214 met all primary endpoints, including superior neutralising antibody response against Omicron (BA.1) when compared to a 50 µg booster dose of mRNA-1273 in baseline seronegative participants. A booster dose of mRNA-1273.214 increased neutralising geometric mean titres against Omicron approximately 8-fold above baseline levels. In addition, mRNA-1273.214 elicited potent neutralising antibody responses against the Omicron sub-variants BA.4 and BA.5 compared to the currently authorised booster (mRNA-1273) regardless of prior infection status or age.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has granted approval to Small Pharma to initiate clinical trials for SPL026, the company’s lead candidate. SPL026 is a N, N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) candidate developed for patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). DMT is a naturally-occurring psychedelic tryptamine found in some plants and in the brain of mammals. The trial will asses the interaction between serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and SPL026 regarding safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. These endpoints will be assessed in patients with MDD currently being treated with SSRI but that such is ineffective in fully relieving their depression, compared with patients not currently on a prescribed SSRI. The trial is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2022.

Bloomberg News has reported AstraZeneca has asked a London court to enforce and extend a noncompete agreement signed by Chris Sheldon, former Vice President of Investor Relations, who recently moved to GSK to become Senior Vice President of Commercial Portfolio. The company told Bloomberg the noncompete agreement bars Sheldon from facilitating competition in respiratory, oncology and COVID-19-related therapy work for six months after leaving. Recently Garrett Rhyasen (former AZ’sexecutive director and Global Head of Oncology Search and Evaluation, Business Development and Licensing) has also joined GSK as Vice President of Search and Evaluation for Oncology.

GSK and UNICEF have signed a $170 million contract for 18 million doses of malaria vaccines to be distributed over the next 3 years. The vaccine (Mosquirix or RTS,) was first approved by the EMA in 2015 but concerns arose due to 50% efficacy of the shot in clinical trials and its ability to prevent death. However, in 2019, a WHO pilot program in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi showed that more than two thirds of the children not sleeping under a bed net where benefiting from the vaccine. Mosquirix must be administered in four doses, from 5 months to 3 years old.

“On 3 April 2020, Kate Bingham was told that the likelihood of any Covid-19 vaccine working was 15% at best. But on 8 December 2020, the first NHS patient received a vaccine.” Kate Bingham has co-authored The Long Shot: The Inside Story of the Race to Vaccinate Britain, available in your local bookstore from October 20, 2022. Together with Tim Hames, she narrates what it was to lead the fight against COVID-19, and how she was rushed into becoming the Head of Britain’s Vaccine Taskforce.

Biotech 2050 has talked to Dr Timothy Kieffer, Chief Scientific Officer at ViaCyte, and Dr Manasi Sinha Jaiman, Chief Medical Officer at ViaCyte, about innovation in diabetes therapies. Great conversation full of good insights.

The British government has published its proposal for a new artificial intelligence rulebook, which aims to diverge from the European Union’s centralised authority approach. This would mean regulators such Ofcom, the CMA, the ICO and the FCAinterpret regulation on artificial intelligence individually using this six “core principles”: used safely; technically secure; works as designed; transparent and explainable; considers fairness; identifies a person with legal responsibility for the system; and clarifies routes to contest AI decisions. Meanwhile, if you have not done so yet, here is the **DeepMind’s excellent blog post about AlphaFold.

Interesting interview to Petar Veličković (research scientists at DeepMind) on the virtuous cycle of AI research and the future of algorithmic reasoning.