Friends, back into your inbox after Mailchimp —the tech bit I use to distribute the newsletter— blocked me from accessing by own account. Reason? The 2-Factor Authentication was being too smart for its own pants. Now that we are at it, some housekeeping: I have heard you and you prefer to have your Biocapital as Monday morning espresso instead of Friday evening ale, and that is exactly what we will do. Despite tech, today’s issue includes the previous week too. That is to say, there is a lot to get through, so feel free to skim through sections.

Last two weeks in a nutshell? It is ten years of Syncona being a force for good and Martin Murphy is stepping down as CEO. The fund has disclosed an investment in Kesmalea Therapeutics, biotech pioneer Harry Finch’s last dance. A propos of Kesmalea, Chair of the Board Clive Dix is having a second round of champagne as C4X Discovery, where he serves as CEO, has entered a $402 partnership with AstraZeneca. It has not been any less busy for the big pharma, as they have been trying to fix the fact that, unlike Novartis or Gilead, it does not have an approved cell-based cancer therapy. The $320 million acquisition of Neogene Therapeutics hopefully gets that sorted. By the way: Neogene? Part of Syncona’s portfolio too! Not leaving the cell-based cancer therapy space just yet. Bent Jakobsen, founder of NASDAQ-listed Adaptimmune and Immunocore, has a new Oxford-based venture. Hols on, so many words into the summary without mentioning AI? Easy fix and what a fix, AI-enabled discovery at its best. Turbine has raised €20 million and V7 Labs has raised £30 million Series. Also, CHARM Therapeutics and BaseCamp have joined the non-profit OpenFold AI Research Consortium. More from London: Earlybird has opened offices and Deep Science Ventures has partnered with AbbVie to act as venture builder for companies in the inflammatory space. Indeed, Humira patent cliff is quite literally around the corner. You will know the US’ Food and Drug Administration has approved cell-cultured chicken, the first time a lab-grown meat product is approved for human consumption. Some analysis say in order to secure 1% of the global market for protein products, bioreactors will require approximately 3 tonnes of growth factor substances. Manchester-based Bright Biotech has raised $3.2 million seed round to be on the case. Mike Romanos is going back to academia. Farewell, sir, and great job. This and other major leadership appointments down the Operations section. Last week was Woody Allen’s birthday and, oddly enough, I was not invited to the party. I am having my own little celebration in the Beyond biotech section. Deconstructing Harry, Twisted and the rest of it. Other illustrious guests? William Blake, Patti Smith and a rather interesting Interesting podcasts & readings section featuring Owlstone Medical, Kate Bingham, and how to achieve UK’s NICE recommendation for digital therapeutics. Let’s dive in!

London-based V7 Labs has raised $33 million Series A. The round was co-led by Radical Ventures and Temasek, and participated by current investors Air Street Capital, Amadeus Capital Partners and Partech, alongside several business angels. The company currently focuses on computer vision and automatic identification and categorisation in the fields of science and medicine. V7 Labs has not disclosed a full list current clients but these include GE Healthcare, Paige AI and Siemens, and other Fortune 500 companies. The proceedings of the round will be used to expand the team with engineers and build operations to launch in the US.

London-based Kesmalea Therapeutics has raised £20 million series A. The round was led by Syncona and participated by Oxford Science Enterprises. Kesmalea was founded by Dr Harry Finch (co-inventor of GSK’s commercial medicine for Asthma, Severent; Non-executive director at C4X Discovery), and is chaired by Dr Clive Dix (ex-Chair of the UK Vaccine Taskforce). The company is developing a platform to systemically modulate protein homeostasis using orally-bioavailable small molecules, essentially, a form of therapeutics with a PROTAC-like mechanism of action. No further information about the science has been disclosed. In 2020, Kesmalea secured a €470,000 convertible loan from the BioInnovation Institute (Denmark). Now, Kesmalea has become the second small molecule company in Syncona’s portfolio

London and Budapest-based Turbine has raised €20 million Series A. The round was led by Mercia and MSD Global Health Innovation Fund, and participated by Day One Capital and current investors XTX Ventures, Accel and Delin Ventures. Turbine is developing a cell behaviour simulation platform called Simulated Cell. The proceedings of the round will be used to advance its potentially first-in-class programs targeting DNA damage repair pathways. The platform identifies biomarkers and combinatorial strategies, as well as in vitro and in vivo biological models for experimental validation, to identify clinically validated targets invisible to other computational approaches. Turbine approach has already guided Bayer and two other top 20 Pharma companies in their drug discovery efforts.

Oxford-based Accession Therapeutics has raised £16.6 million Series A. The round was participated by new investors iGlobe Partner (Singapore) and existing Primavera Venture Partners, Birk Ventur, and other business angels. Ascension is developing its Trocept platform, which uses an engineered adenovirus (from Prof Alan Parker’s lab at Cardiff University) to target cancer cells via a discriminatory viral point of entry into. This feature would also enable tackling tumour diversity. Last year, the company raised £11 million to enable early stage pipeline progression. The company has two lead programs which are expected to reach IND stage by the end of 2023. The company is founded and led by Bent Jakobsen, PhD FMedSci, a pioneer of T cell receptor therapy for cancer and founder of NASDAQ-listed Adaptimmune and Immunocore.

Biorelate has raised £6.5 million Series A. The round was co-led by Maven Capital Partners and YFM Equity Partners, and participated by Manchester Tech Trust angels and Triple Point Ventures. Maven Capital Partners participation originates from its alliance with the British Business Bank at the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund. Biorelate is developing a AI engine (Galactic AI) to leverage natural language processing for drug discovery. The proceedings of the round will be used to launch operations in the US. The company launched Galactic AI in 2020 and has been used to automatically build research intelligence trees from 38.3 million biomedical sources, and is currently used by AstraZeneca, Idorsia and several other undisclosed names.

London-based Applied AI Company (AAIC) has raised $42 million from investors including Abu Dhabi-based G42 and members of Dubai's Al Maktoum family. AAIC was founded by former Goldman Sachs banker Arya Bolurfrushanand is working on various verticals including insurance and healthcare. It has developed 3 products in the medical space, DeepDoc (NLP to process medical claims 98% faster semantically at a fraction of the current costs), and Covigilance.ai(stealth)/ Nash (stealth), both aiming at increasing margins through mission-critical automation.

London-based Julienne Bruno has raised £5 million seed funding. The round was led by Cherry Ventures and participated by Outsized Ventures, Seedcamp and Nicoya. Julienne Bruno is a plant-based food developer currently focused on dairy-free cheese alternatives. The proceedings of the round will be used to promote growth and help expanding partnerships, which currently include Selfridges London, Holland & Barrett, and Whole Foods Market. The company was found in 2020 by Pointr co-founder Axel Katalan.

France and UK-based Five Lives has raised €3.7 million seed funding. The round was led by Headline (US) and Speedinvest (Austria) and participated by Kima Ventures, Voyagers.io, Tiny VC, Proxy Ventures and Snow Capital. The company is developing a a direct-to-consumer app to help preventing dementia and Alzheimer. The app provides a game-based platform designed to detect and reduce the risk of dementia. The users have to fill in a risk assessment trained with a machine learning algorithm trained on 10,000 people. The company was founded in 2019 and the app currently has 25,000 users since launching last month. Five Lives has the support of Dementias Platform UK.

Manchester-based Bright Biotech has raised $3.2 million seed funding. The round was led by FoodHack and participated by Big Idea Ventures, CPT Capital, the FoodHack syndicate, and several angel investors. Bright Biotech is developing culture meat growth factors using organelles from plant cells. According to the company, in order to secure 1% of the global market for protein products, bioreactors will require approximately 3 tonnes of growth factor substances. The proceedings of the round will be use to reach the market during 2023.

London-based Surgery Hero has raised £2 million of seed funding. The round was participated by LifeArc Ventures, Crista Galli Ventures and Clarendon Fund Managers, and followed on by pre-seed investors SFC Capital. Surgery hero operates as digital clinic and is helping patients to prepare for and recover from surgery at home. The proceedings of the round will be used to implement a machine algorithm to its solution and start operation in the US. The company was founded in 2020 and it is now commissioned by 10% of Integrated Care Systems in the UK. In addition, Damien Lane(founding partner of Episode 1 Ventures) and Imran Hamid (Senior Investment Principal at LifeArc Ventures) have been appointed to the Board.

Cambridge-based Decorte Future Industries (DFI) has raised $1.6 million and “almost as much again is being negotiated”. DFI is developing machine learning-driven software to extract health data from sound. Trupen Modi, Director of Digital Health Innovation Strategy at Microsoft, has been appointed to the Board of Directors as Non-executive director. The software is able to extract (non-invasively) meaningful complex cardiovascular, respiratory, mental, neurological and gastrointestinal metrics. The company has set out plans to expand the algorithm to include arrhythmia, murmur detection and atrial fibrillation.

Eden Bio has raised £1 million seed investment. The round was led by SynBioVen (which includes Prof Richard Kitney and Prof Paul Freemont, leading founders of British synthetic biology), Lord David Willetts (former Minister for Universities and Science, and founder of the Synthetic Biology Leadership Council), and Sir David Harding (founder and CEO of Winton Group). In addition, the round was participated by Dhyan Capital, Saras Capital, Stefano Bernard and a consortium of business angels, including Dr Noor Shaker, Dr Sandra Blewitt, Kevin Mascarenhas and Andy Russell. Eden Bio is applying machine learning to strain optimisation.

Edinburgh-based Hearing Diagnostics has raised £1.1 million follow on investment led by Archangels. Other participants included Scottish Enterprise. Hearing Diagnostics is developing Audimetroid, technology to improve the quality of hearing tests. The proceedings of the round will be used to launch commercialisation in the US and expand the team.

Luna has raised £660,000 pre-seed investment from angel investors including Maria Ro and Kirsten Connell of Octopus Ventures and Miruna Girtu of Syndicate Room. Luna is developing a medtech app to improve teenagers’s health and development. It covers topics such menstruation, hormonal acne, skincare, sexuality, mental health, etc.

London-based Neobe Therapeutics has raised £520,000 pre-seed funding. The round was led by Discovery Park Ventures and Nadav Rosenberg (CEO of Saras Capital). Neobe was spun out (2021) from a collaboration between Deep Science Ventures and CRUK by Pedro Correa de Sampaio and Annelise Soulier. The company is developing programable live biotherapeutics to remodelling the tumour microenvironment and so removing the barriers preventing immune infiltration in solid tumours. The aim is to increase the number of patients responding to existing immunotherapies, which can reach up to 85%.

Cambridge-based BiologIC Technologies has raised investment (undisclosed amount) from Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) Enterprises. BiologIC and CPI have collaborated on multiple projects to advance bioprocess innovation since 2021. BiologIC is developing a biocomputer, an integrated and programmable automation system for producing biological data on demand. The biocomputer integrates biological data reducing the need for multiple different instruments.

Cambridge-based RxCelerate has acquired Methuselah Health UK Ltd (est. 2015) for an undisclosed amount. Methuselah Health developed ProQuant proteomics technology as engine for internal research in the age-related drug discovery space. ProQuant will now be available as part of the services offered by RxCelerate. According to David Moscale, CTO at Methuselah, ProQuant improves quantitative accuracy for LC-MS-MS-based proteomics and enables a whole range of applications that are currently difficult or impossible with existing technology (e.g. quantify post-translational modifications or proteolytic cleavages in protein complexes). RxCelerate is led by Jill Reckless and works as an out-sourced drug discovery and development company specialising in in vivo pharmacology, proprietary models of human diseases and cell-based assays.

Clinigen Limited has acquired Drug Safety Navigator (DNS). DNS is a specialist pharmacovigilance service provider based in the US. The acquisition enables Clinigen to integrate pharmacovigilance services (clinical and post-marketed medical products) for its clients in the pharmaceutical and life science sector. Financial details have not been disclosed.

Global Mutual (EU/US real state asset manager) has acquired Riverlabs Life Science Park Campus (Hertfordshire) from GSK. Riverlabs is a 28-acre area, including over 300,000 sq ft of laboratory space (and CL2 to CL4 space) as well as on-site sports facilities. Space can be occupied from January 2023.

Cancer Research UK has awarded £1 million to Dr Manay Pathania and team to investigate paediatric high-grade gliomas. The group has shown how mutations in genes that control childhood brain development can cause such tumours. The new funding will be used to explore the effects of these mutations to finding novel ways to prevent or stop tumour formation. The group is based at the Milner Therapeutics Institute.

London-based Complement Therapeutics has been awarded an Innovate UK EDGE grant. The funding will be used to define a regulatory strategy for the company’s lead product CTx001 in collaboration with the Cell and Gene Therapy (CGT) Catapult. CTx001 is a gene therapy for the treatment of dry age-related macular degeneration (Geographic Atrophy). Complement Therapeutics is a University of Manchester spinout working to develop therapeutics for complement-related diseases, as well as a quantification methodology to enable detection of over 30 complement cascade proteins for a more precise diagnosis.

London-based Deep Science Ventures (DSV) has partnered with AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) to launch companies in the inflammatory space. First, AbbVie and DSV will work to identify therapeutic areas of unmet needs to then recruit a founding analyst to lead further research. AT the company foundation stage, both parties will have the opportunity to participate at the pre-seed stage. DSV has currently invested in companies ranging from CAR-T therapy (Immtune) to microbiome-focused CC Bio. The partnership builds on AbbVie’s need to find immunologic assets to overcome Humira’s patent cliff.

Syncona was founded in 2012 and 2022 marks its 10th anniversary. The fund has announced plans to organically grow net assets to £5 billion by 2032. So far, it has delivered a portfolio internal rate of return of 26% and 15 clinical programs progressed. Martin Murphy, PhD, who co-founded Syncona alongside the Wellcome Trust, is stepping down as CEO and will remain as Chair of the Syncona Investment Management (SIML). Chris Hollowood, current Chief of Investments, has been appointed CEO and will drive the 10-year growth plan. In addition, Ed Hodgkin has been promoted to Senior Partner and Magdalena Jonikas and Elisa Petris to Lead Partners.

Coutts, the private banking arm of NatWest Group, and BGF have raised £80 million through the UK Enterprise Fund(UKEF). The fund will provide Coutts clients with early access to investment. The fund launched with £40 million in June 2021 and has now been matched by a further £40 million at the close of the second fundraising round. BGF is the leading growth capital investor in the UK and exclusively takes a minority shareholding in each of the companies it backs. UKEF aims to fill the funding gap across the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Most recently, UKEF has backed Cambridge-based Enhanc3d Genomics. Recently, NatWest Group has appointed Kristine Erwin as Director of the Venture & Growth Financing Team.

Berlin-headquartered Earlybird has opened a London office to expand its operations in the UK. The Fund invests between €100,000 and €10m from the pre-seed to growth stage businesses in enterprise software, health tech and fintech. The investment team will be led by Akash Bajwa and the investor relations team will include Elle Muller and Anya Maine, led by Vincenzo Narciso.

Jeremy Hunt has scaled back a few things, including R&D tax credits. The Financial Times has talked to Kate Bingham, Steve Bates and Clive Dix, among others and, friends, they do not seem to be impressed. Aiming to prevent this from happening, Demis Hassabis (Founder and CEO, DeepMind), Dame Sue Ion (Former Chair, UK Nuclear Innovation Research), Sir Mene Pangalos (Executive Vice President, Biopharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca), Sir Adrian Smith, and other figures of the British biotech and life sciences ecosystem published an open letter to the Prime Minister asking for a long-term strategy in Science. And yet, here we are. Prior to the Autumn Statement, Martin Glen, Investment Director at Parkwalk, also wrote piece on how short-term politics impact (or, better, should not impact) long-term investment.

Innovate UK has launched a new £30 million fund to advance the discovery of therapeutics in the oncology space through the Biomedical Catalyst Program. In addition, the fund will support project focusing in life-threatening childhood cancers. It will include two oncology accelerators for early-stage projects in immuno-oncology and paediatric cancer and thematic collaborative research and development support, as well as bespoke investor partnership programmes.

Innovate UK and BBSRC have announced a partnership to invest £50 million in innovation programmes to help UK businesses collaborate with the UK research base.The partnership aims to fund project including (but not exclusively) biofilms and broader microbial communities, bio-based manufacturing, more sustainable food production systems, including novel proteins.

Nesta Impact Investments has announced a £50 million fund to back UK-based early-stage startups over the next 5 years. £25 million will be invested into companies, each investment ranging from £500,000 to £1 million. The remaining £25 million will go towards MIssion Studio, a venture builder set up in collaboration between Nesta and Founders Factory. Nesta has already announced the first three investments: Oxford Medical Products (technology for weight loss), Habitual Health (diabetes support program) and Koru Kids (childcare platform).

The British health solutions provider Simplyhealth (est. 1872)  has raised its first £60 million venture capital fund to improve access to healthcare across the UK. The fund will invest in UK-focused early-stage healthcare startups developing predictive and preventative healthcare solutions. In addition, Simplyhealth Ventures has just announced its investment in gynaecological health organisation Daye. The fund has already made two investments, a majority stake in Ocuplan (UK’s leading provider of plans to support patients with chronic eye conditions), and an investment in Ampersand (digital therapeutics platform for chronic inflammatory conditions).

LifeArc has launched the Chronic Respiratory Infection Translational Challenge, a programme to invest up to £100 million by 2030 in clinical solutions for bronchiectasis and cystic fibrosis patients. LifeArc will invest up to £10 million in five collaborative projects seeking to repurpose existing therapies and compounds. Currently, projects are structured in three verticals: Early detection, Right diagnosis and Better treatment. Deadline: February 15, 2023.

Parkinson’s UK has launched the Drug Accelerator Awards. The awards aim to help accelerating novel drug discovery for the treatment of Parkinson’s, providing researchers the opportunity to plug essential gaps in existing datasets to get their projects/compounds ready to enter full scale drug discovery with an industry partner or the Parkinson’s Virtual Biotech. Applicants from UK universities, NHS Trust or small biotech companies can apply for a maximum award amount of £100,000 over 12 months, although projects including in vivo work can apply for up to £150,000. The deadline for pre-proposal applications is January, 26 (2023).

London-based CHARM Therapeutics and BaseCamp have joined the non-profit  OpenFold AI Research Consortium. The aim of the consortium is to develop free and open source software tools for biology and drug discovery. Bayer and Dassault Systemes have joined too. Founding members are Mohammed AlQuraishi’s Laboratory, Cyrus Biotechnology, Arzeda, Outpace Bio and Genentech’s Prescient Design. BaseCamp is developing a database of proteins from previously undiscovered organisms found in diverse natural environments. CHARM Therapeutics is applying 3D deep-learning technology for drug discovery.

Cambridge-based Apollo Therapeutics has entered a collaboration with the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) to discover and develop new cancer medicines. ICR brings a wealth of expertise in cancer research with more than 800 scientist working across cancer biology and drug discovery, as well as cancer clinical trial experience through its hospital partner The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. It includes their Drug Development Unit, the leading oncology-focused Phase I trial unit in the UK. In addition, the research carried out at ICR has underpinned the discovery of the blockbuster drug abiraterone (Zytiga) and the leading PARP inhibitor olaparib (Lynparza).

Cambridge-based STORM Therapeutics has announced dosing the first patient with its STC-15. STC-15 is the first molecule specifically targeting an RNA methyltransferase enzyme to enter clinical development. In particular, STC-15 inhibits METTL3 and has shown direct cytotoxic and anti-cancer immune response mechanisms in solid tumor and leukemia models (preclinical data). It is an orally bioavailable drug candidate and will be tested in Phase 1 in a multiple ascending dose escalation trial.

The US’ Food and Drug Administration has approved cell-cultured chicken, the first time a lab-grown meat product is approved for human consumption, and a major milestone for the industry. Upside Foods has secured the approval. However, before the company is can sell the product to consumers, the facilities where the meat is grown will need inspection by the US Department of Agriculture, among other checks.

Rothamsted Research and University of Oxford-spinout SugaROx has announced its biostimulant prevents yield-loss in wheat by up to 40% when applied after a drought event and can boost yields by up to 18% under typical growing conditions. SugaROx is an agritech startup building on research that identified trehalose-6-phosphate as a component to potentially increase grain yield.

Amazon Web Services has launched Amazon Omics, a genomics service to run heavy bioinformatics workflows. It provides customers with three tools: omics-friendly object storage to store, discover, and share raw sequence data; workflows to run reproducible bioinformatic protocols; and workflows to process raw sequence data; and analytics for operating analytics.

Cancer Research Horizons and the Karolinska Institutet have announced a 5-year partnership. The partnership will allow Karolinska Institutet researchers to access the Cancer Research Horizons AstraZeneca Antibody Alliance Lab(“AAL”)* and use AstraZeneca’s phage display technology to research on novel cancer targets. In addition, the collaboration will enable accessing each other’s networks and collaboration partners.

The Milner Therapeutics Institute has announced MSD ha joined the Institute’s Consortium. The decision coincides with MSD’s investment in a new discovery centre at the Knowledge Quarter in London. James Duce (Director of Discovery Research) and Richard Reschen (Associate Director, Business Development & Licensing) will sit on the Milner Innovation Board.

Abingdon-based Emergex Vaccines has announced success in generating a Chikungunya (CHIKV) ligandome. This constitutes a major milestone in developing a CD8+ T cell CHIKV adaptive vaccine candidate. Candidate peptides from the ligandome will be selected, the vaccine construct will be generated at the company’s in-house manufacturing, and preclinical studies will be conducted in the laboratories at Emergex USA.

Hampon-based Touchlight has signed an agreement with Voyager (US). The partnership grants Voyage right to use Touchlight’s DNA technology for enzymatic DNA production in Voyager’s capsid discovery platform. The technology allows to to enzymatically amplify DNA regardless of the sequence complexity or length.

Oxford-based Brainomix has entered a new partnership with medtech Pixyl. Brainomix will distribute Pixyl’s CE-marked class IIa Neuro.MS Software as a Service (SaaS) solution, which is used in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with multiple sclerosis. The tool analyses brain MRI images to identify, quantify and track abnormalities in under 5 minutes. Neuro.MS will be offered as part of Brainomix’s e-Stroke platform.

Cambridge-based CMR Surgical has announced it has installed more than 100 Versius Surgical Robotic Systems across Europe, Asia, Australia, Latin America, and the Middle East. Versius is the only small, portable, and modular surgical robot on the market and has so far been used in more than 5,000 clinical cases, across 128 procedure types. CMR is building a 7000 sq. meters manufacturing facility in Cambridgeshire, which will be the Company’s global exports hub.

CMR Surgical has announced a collaboration agreement with Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon. The aim is to broaden the choice across surgical robotics and advanced laparoscopic instruments for a range of private hospitals included in the agreement (Italy, France, Germany, and Brazil). The agreement aligns with CMR’s strategy of providing hospitals with Versius Surgical Robotic Systems across key geographies.

Alderley Park-based Lean Life Science has launched the Oncology Development Program (ODP2) in collaboration to Cancer Research Horizons, Manchester Cancer Research Centre and more than twenty specialist contrast research organisations (CROs). The aim is to accelerate commercially viable UK-based innovations in oncology research. Academics and early-stage companies can apply to have access to clinical study design, technical gap analysis and business and financial advise.

Norwich-based Leaf Expression Systems and the John Innes Centre have launched a collaboration to improve crop resistance to disease. The collaboration, lead by Prof Mark Banfield, aims to explore the mechanistic biology of plant proteins involved in pathogen recognition and resistance. The Group will leverage Leaf’s proprietary transient expression technology Supravec.

Alderley Park-based Infex Therapeutics has announced the first subjects have been dosed in Phase I with RESP-X. RESP-X is the company’s lead anti-virulence candidate, a humanised monoclonal antibody designed to counteract Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection in non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis (NCFB) patients. Phase I is being conducted at the NIHR Liverpool Clinical Research Facility, and aims to evaluate safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic and immunogenicity profiles.

The University of Dundee and Tay Therapeutics have announced its development partner VYNE Therapeutics (US) has initiated a phase 1a/b trial evaluating the topical pan-BD BET inhibitor (VYN201) in vitiligo, a chronic autoimmune depigmenting disorder of the skin. BET inhibitors may play a key role as BET proteins regulate gene transcription via epigenetic interactions (i.e. reading), which regulates B and T cell activation. It is the first compound discovered by Tay Therapeutics to reach clinical trials.

London-based SIME Clinical AI has announced its SIME AI device for acute respiratory disease prediction has achieved CE Mark for investigational use in in the ICU and NICU. It is the world’s first Clinical AI Platform for the rapid prediction of severe respiratory disease to achieve CE-IVD. Pilot sites have been selected from the top NICU’s in Denmark, the UK and the US.

Sartorius BIA Separations and Exopharm have signed an agreement to produce next generation large-scale exosome production. The aim is to combine Exopharm’s proprietary LEAP technology together with BIA’s unique CIM (Convective Interaction Media) monolith chromatography for large-scale therapeutic exosome production and commercialisation.

London and San Francisco-based Pangaea Data has been awarded top tier co-sell partnership status by Microsoft, its highest level partner designation. In addition, Microsoft has made Pangaea a a transactable solution through the Azure marketplace. Pangaea is developing AI solutions to improve patients characterisation by mapping their journey during the disease, while preserving privacy and scalability.

The Department of Biochemistry (University of Cambridge) is hiring an Assistant/Associate Professor. Individuals from under-represented groups are encouraged to apply.

CPI has opened its Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre in Glasgow, Scotland. The Centre has six founding partners: AstraZeneca, GSK, CPI, the University of Strathclyde, the UK Research and Innovation and Scottish Enterprise. Other investors include Pfizer, Novartis, Alnylam, PwC, Siemens and Applied Materials. The Centre is forecast to generate £200 million in advanced technologies over the first 5 years and aims to build next-generation manufacturing assets and expertise.

BioMed Realty (Blackstone) has received planning approval to deliver 600,000 sq ft of lab space at the Cambridge International Technology Park. The life science real state operator acquired the 15-acre site in September 2021, and it ha already agreed to build up to 1 million sq ft of Class A space to be use for research purposes.

London BioScience Innovation Centre (LBIC) has announced a new 37,127 sq. ft. (GIA) state-of-the-art innovation centre at The Apex (Tribeca, Reef Group and Blackrock Alternatives). The Apex is scheduled for completion in autumn 2023. Located at the King’s Cross Knowledge Quarter, Tribeca will include 1 million sq ft of workspace, state-of-the-art laboratories, and residential units across five buildings.

Canadian biotech BenchSci has expanded into the UK taking a 3,169 sq ft office at the Cambrigde’s Bateman House. BenchSci currently focuses on AI-enabled antibody selection but is looking to expand into other recombinant proteins, siRNAs, CRISPR tools and animal models. According to the company, its technology is used by more than 4,500 research centres across the globe.

Microbiotica’s CEO and co-founder Mike Romanos has stepped down to take up role of Associate Dean of Enterprise in the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College. Tim Sharpington, current Chief Operating Officer, will take over starting from 1 January 2023. Prior to Microbiotica, Sharpington held senior roles at Vectura, Arakis, ICON, Sequus and Open Orphan/hVIVO. In March this year, the Company raised £50 million Series B to fund Phase 1b clinical trials in immuno-oncology and ulcerative colitis.

Purespring has appointed Julian Hanak as acting Chief Executive Officer. Richard Francis will remain as Non-executive Board Director of Purespring and is to become Chief Executive Officer of Teva Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Julian Hanak was the company’s Chief Development Officer. Prior to that, he served at Biogen as SVP and Global Head of CMC for NightstaRx Therapeutics, following its acquisition by Biogen.

Bristol-based Imophoron has appointed Richard Bungay, CA as Chief Executive Officer. Founding CEO Fred Garzonihas become Chief Scientific Officer. Bungay joins from being CEO of AIM-listed Diurnal Group plc, where he led the sale of the company to Neurocrine Biosciences. Prevously, he was CFO and COO at Mereo Biopharma and CEO of Chroma Therapeutics. Imophoron is developing novel nanoparticle products using its ADDomer platform. The company is preparing to start IND-enabling studies for its lead vaccine candidate for respiratory syncytial virus.

Oxford Biomedica Plc (LSE:OXB) has appointed Dr Frank Mathias as Chief Executive Officer and Boar Director. Dr Mathias joins from being CEO of Rentschler Biopharma SE. Prior to that, he was CEO of Medigene AG and served in senior roles at leading companies such Amgen, Servier and Hoechst AG. The appointment will be effective in March 2023, when the current CEO Dr Roch Doliveux will resume the role of Non-Executive Chair.

RBW Consulting has appointed James Wakefield as Chief Executive Officer. RBW specialises in recruitment and search consultancy specialising in the life science sector. Recently, he served as Kernel Global, where he led expansion of international operations in US, German and French markets. In addition, he led the expansion of Cobalt recruitment from 60 to over 200 employees.

Abingdon-based PsiOxus has appointed James Francis, PhD as Vice President of Translational Medicine. Dr Francis joins from Gyroscope Therapeutics where he was Senior Director of Translational Research. Prior to that, he held leadership roles at Autolus, Altimmune, and Immune Targeting Systems. PsiOxus is a clinical stage oncology company developing tumour reprogramming therapies leveraging its multiple transgene payload technology.

London-based Quell Therapeutics has appointed Luke Devey, BMBCh, PhD, as Chief Medical Officer. Dr Devey joins from Janssen Immunology where he was Vice President and Head of Translational Science. Prior to that, he served as Head of Early Discovery Biology, Immunology & Inflammation at Celgene, as well as several senior roles in Experimental Medicine at GSK. Quell Therapeutics is one of the few companies in the world developing engineered T-regulatory cell therapies. Quell’s lead candidate QEL-001 is being developed to induce operational tolerance following liver transplantation.

London-based LabGenius has appointed Dr Leonard Wossnig as Chief Technology Officer. Dr Wossnig will lead a team of data scientists, software engineers, and automation experts working to advance the company’s machine learning platform for antibody-based drug discovery. Prior to joining the company, he co-founded Rahko, which was acquired earlier this year by Odyssey Therapeutics where he was Vice President of AI.

Genomics Plc has announced two hires to its leadership team. Mark Toms (ex-Chief Scientific Officer at Novartis; ex-Associate Medical Director at GSK) has been appointed Chief Medical Officer. Nick DeFilippo has been appointed Chief Commercial Officer. Previously, he was one of the first commercial hires at GRAIL, and has led senior leadership roles at Helix and Myriad Genetics.

Cambridge Science Park-based Nuclera has appointed Prof Mike Jewitt to its Scientific Advisory Board. Prof Jewitt has been awarded the David and Lucile Packard Fellowship in Science and Engineering and the Camille-Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award. He is currently the Director of the Center for Synthetic Biology at Northwestern Universityand is a synthetic biology leader specialised in the field of glycosilation, ribosome engineering and cell-free diagnostics.

Cambridge-based Domainex has expanded its executive and management team to support the company growth. The appointments are as follows: David Cronk as Chief Operating Officer; Dr Natalie Winfield as Executive Director of Commercial Operations; Dr Catherine Stace as Executive Director of Business Development; and Dr Ray BoffeyExecutive Director of Medicines Research & Strategic Alliances.

Cambridge-based Babraham Institute has appointed Prof Dame Linda Partridge DBE, FRS, FRSE, FMedSci to its Board of Trustees. Prof Partridge is a Professorial Research Fellow in the Division of Biosciences at University College London and the founding director of the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing (Germany).

Boyds Consultants has appointed Dr Patrick Ginty to bolster its regulatory affairs team. Dr Ginty joins from serving as Head of Regulatory Affairs at AviadoBio. prior to that, he was Head of Gene Therapy Regulatory Affairs at Handl Therapeutics (a fully owned subsidiary of UCB), and before this, Head of Regulatory Affairs at the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult.

Sofinnova Partners has appointed Mats Eklund as partner and Chief Operating Officer. He will take over from Monique Saulnier, Managing Partner, who is retiring after 40 years with the firm. Recently, Eklund was Senior Advisor to two fund managers, NREP (real estate fund, €15 billion in AUM), and Sprints Capital (aVC and PE investment company with €1B in AUM).

London-based NG Bio has announced its Drug Development Advisory Board will be formed by Neil Gozzard, PhD (+30 years of experience at UCB and progressing small molecules and biologics to the clinic), Ted Parton, PhD (member of the expert panel for the European Commission’s Healthtech Translation Advisory Board) and John Weinberg, MD, MBA (25-years career at Novartis, senior roles at Veloxis, 4D Pharma and Enzon). NG Bio is a therapeutic venture builder specialised in autoimmune diseases and chronic inflammation.

Cambridge-headquartered AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) is set to acquire Neogene Therapeutics for up to $320 million. AstraZeneca’s oncology portfolio accounted for more than 33% of the company’s revenue in 2021. However, it does not have an approved cell-based cancer therapy, lagging behind Novartis and Gilead. The acquisition allows Neogene’s T-cell receptor capabilities to complement its portfolio. In addition, it will integrate Neogene proprietary technology to target DNA mutations specific to tumours not only surface markers. Neogene was founded in 2018 by Carsten Linnemann, current CEO, and the Netherlands Cancer Institute's Ton Schumacher. Currently, it belongs (8%) to Syncona’s portfolio and proceedings of the acquisition are anticipated to be £16 million, with a further £6 million potentially due from future milestones. It is Syncona’s fourth exit to date, generating up front proceeds of £948 million at an aggregate 4.3 multiple of cost.

C4X Discovery Holdings (AIM: C4XD) has signed a $402 million exclusive global licence agreement with Astrazeneca(LON:AZN) for its NRF2 activator programme, a key but elusive anti-inflammatory target. AstraZeneca will develop and commercialise an oral therapy for the treatment of inflammatory and respiratory diseases focusing on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. C4X Discovery will receive $2 million upfront, up to $16 million in pre-clinical payments, and up to $385.8 million development and commercial milestones.

Oxford-headquartered Excsientia (NASDAQ: EXAI) has entered a strategic collaboration with the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Centre. The partnership aims to apply Excsientia’s AI capabilities to discover novel cell-intrinsic small-molecule oncology therapies. Promising candidates will advance for further development with the team at MD Anderson’s Therapeutics Discovery division. No further details or indications have been disclosed.

Oxford Nanopore Technologies (LSE: ONT) has entered a partnership with US-based Bio-Techne (NASDAQ: TECH) to develop assays for reproductive health and screening. Bio-Techne will leverage its gold-standard PCR technology with Oxford Nanopore ability to read all-lengths DNA sequencing to develop a system that can identify the most challenging yet prevalent carrier genes, a process that nowadays requires multiple methods. Carrier screening identifies at-risk-couples (ARCs) with pathogenic variants associated with severe genetic disorders. The partnership aims to better inform reproductive decision-making.

Oxford-headquartered Exscientia (NASDAQ: EXAI) has announced clinical trial application approval of IGNITE-AI. The Phase 1/2 trial will study EXS-21546, a A(2A) receptor antagonist in combination with anti-PD-1 therapy in 110 patients with immunotherapy relapsed or refractory renal cell carcinoma and non-small cell lung cancer. Exscientia has used simulation guided clinical trial design to determine the operating characteristics of the two stages of the trial.

Bristol-headquartered Destiny Pharma (AIM: DEST) has started an Investigational New Drug (IND0 enabling safety study with its XF-73 dermal formulation. This study is the second of two planned preclinical safety studies of the XF-73. It is designed to potentially prevent of infections associated with open wounds and broken skin including diabetic foot ulcers. The study is planned to complete in Q2 2023.

Cambridge-based Arecor Therapeutics (AIM: AREC) has achieved BASG clearance (Germany) for its Clinical Application Trial (CTA) AT278, an ultra rapid acting, highly-concentrated (500 U/ml) insulin candidate for type 2 diabetes. CTA approval means that the company can now initiate the second Phase 1 trial for the drug, which would be a first high-concentrated/rapid acting insulin. In addition, Arecor has been granted a key patent in Japan and South Korea to protect its insulin products AT247 and AT278

Cambridge-headquartered AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) has achieved FDA’s recommendation for its PT027, as new rescue treatment for asthma. PT027 is a potential first-in-class, pressurised metered-dose inhaler, fixed-dose combination rescue medication in the US containing albuterol, a short-acting beta2-agonist, and budesonide, an anti-inflammatory inhaled corticosteroid.

Cambridge-headquartered F-star (NASDAQ: FSTX) has published Phase 1 study results for FS118, a tetravalent bispecific antibody targeting LAG3 and PD-L1 in patients with advance PD-L1 resistance. The antibody has been engineered to introduce LAG-3 binding sites into the constant region. The company reports FS118 is well-tolerated across all dose levels with no serious adverse events related to FS118 therapy. Further studies are currently undergoing for acquired resistance squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck and checkpoint inhibitor naïve non-small cell lung cancer and diffuse B cell lymphoma.

Cambridge-headquartered Bicycle Therapeutcis (NASDAQ:BCYC) has announced first patient has been dosed in BT8009 Phase 2 expansion cohort. BT8009 has been designed for patients suffering from a range of cancer types where Nectin-4 is expressed, and it is potentially a first in class drug. Nectin-4 is highly expressed on the surface of cells in urithelial cancer and several solid tumours.

Alderley Park-headquartered RedX Pharma (AIM:REDX) has started enrolment for Phase 2 combination arms with immune checkpoint inhibitors for its RXC004 candidate. The study is being carried out out in genetically selected patients with microsatellite stable metastatic colorectal cancer and is now opening a combination arm with nivolumab. Data for Phase 1 can be found here.

Brentford-headquartered GSK (LSE/NYSE: GSK) has announced positive Phase IIa results for its GSK3036656 drug candidate. Data shows early bactericidal activity with a low, once-daily oral dose after 14 days of treatment in participants with drug-susceptible pulmonary tuberculosis. The investigational antitubercular agent will be tested in Phase IIb/c studies in different drug regimens to determine the appropriate partner agents to complement its anti-TB action and the optimal regimen durations.

It is no secret to there is a skills shortage in the UK and business are struggling to expand the team with the relevant experience. Owlstone is going above and beyond to tackle this crisis and is running the Owlstone Medical Learning and Development programme. The program launched in 2021 and has had the participation of 89% of its employees. Lizzy Burke is the Vice President of Human Resources at Owlstone Medical and has won the Enterprise Skills Award in 2022— sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Centre at Cambridge Judge Business School—. The Cambridge Independenthas talked to her about the success of the program.

Charlotte Lee-Sinclair got Sleepio a positive UK NICE recommendation, a first for digital therapeutics. She discusses some key points of interest for those working in the space.

Anti-CD3: the agonist and the ecstasy. US Food and Drug Administration has approved Tzield injection to delay the onset of stage 3 type 1 diabetes in adults… 37 years since the first monoclonal antibody was designed for the indication (and failed).

New to the biotech maze? Technology Networks has talked to Dr Michael Salako, Investment Director at Start Codon,about what are the first steps to become a scientific entrepreneur, the role of Start Codon in the innovation ecosystem.

Brilliant conversation between Money Maze Podcast and Dame Kate Bingham about venture capital investments, the role of R&D and her leading role in the UK’s COVID -19 Vaccine Taskforce.

Breaking news: young scientists are leaving academia. What’s next?