Life science group Sartorius is doing its bit for levelling up agenda as it acquires Nottingham-based Albumedix for £415 million. Although this week funding news have calmed down a little, they represent a Britain’s round trip: London, Belfast, Glasgow and Nottingham. Excellent news across the pond: AstraZeneca & Daiiko’s Enhertuhas been approved in the US as the first HER2-directed therapy for patients with previously treated HER2-mutant metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). But success is a slow-cooking dish: we now know the 2022 Chris Abell Postdoc Business PlanCompetition finalists, and winners will be announced early November. Rather conveniently, Innovate UKBiomedical Catalyst 2022 (round 2) welcomes applications from Monday 15. Originally in-licensed in 2016 from Cancer Research Horizons, Artios’ oral small molecule inhibitor of the DNA polymerase theta for BRCA deficient breast cancer has entered Phase 2 clinical trials. (Patent) winter is coming and ArecorTherapeutics has been granted two patents protecting its novel formulations of high concentration Humira biosimilar. The interesting readings section features building bioregions, the good, the bad and the ugly of the Golden Triangle and the impact of lowering restrictions on gene-edited crops. Let’s dive in!

Nottingham-based Albumedix has been acquired by the life science group Sartorius for approximately £415 million. Albumedix is one of the leaders in the field of recombinant albumin-based solutions. The company was founded in 1984, has over 100 employees, expected revenue for 2022 of £33 million and double-digit EBITDA margin. The transaction is still subject to regulatory approval. Albumedix will integrate on the Bioprocess Solutions Division, and its existing 72,000-square-foot site in Nottingham will be established as a centre of excellence for innovation and GMP-compliant production of critical raw materials. Milbank LLP provided legal counsel to Sartorius and Eversheds Sutherland to Albumedix.

London-based Clean Food Group (CFG) has raised £1.65 million seed round, led by Agronomics, which holds 35% of CFG, and participated by AIM-listed SEED Innovations Limited and other venture capital investors. The aim is to develop a yeast-based lab solution to replace palm oil. The proceedings of the round will be used to develop a large-scale pilot plant to make its yeast-based alternative. CFG has acquired intellectual property from the University of Bath (ProfChris Chuck lab), where more than £4.4 million was already invested into commercialisation, and has signed a 2-year collaboration agreement to further develop the technology. Palm oil is widely used in food manufacturing and beauty industry, but also a major driver of deforestation due to industry size.

Belfast-based VascVersa has raised £500,000 million seed investment. The round was participated by Co-Fund NI(managed by Clarendon Fund Managers), QUBIS (the commercialisation arm of Queen’s University Belfast), the Innovation Investment Fund and angel investors from the Halo & Business Angel Network (‘HBAN’). The startup is a spinout from Queen’s University and is developing cell therapy for vascular regeneration. The proceedings of the round will be used to accelerate its proprietary technology Angicyte, which can create stable blood vessels in vitro and in vivo. Its lead candidate targets the active wound care market, but in the future could be used in the drug development process and as part of the treatment for ischaemic diseases.

University of Glasgow spinout Acu-Flow has been awarded £1 million funding from Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst. Acu-Flow is a developing a novel pulmonary drug-delivery technology enabling precision therapeutics for pre-existing drugs and gene therapy. Nebu-Flow, its proprietary technology, is able to produce droplets from a wide range of formulations (small molecules and biologics) in a process called nebulising, which uses an innovative surface acoustic wave technique. The nebulising platform would allow to deliver nanomedicines capable of reaching the patient’s lungs. The startup has partnered with the University of Glasgow and the NIHR Devices for Dignity Med-tech Co-operative to develop a nebuliser ready to take large-scale manufacturing. Acu-Flow was co-founded in 2019 by Prof Jonathan Cooper (James Watt School of Engineering), and Dr Elijah Nazarzadeh (CEO). Acu-Flow recently raised £1.75 million seed investment.

Round 2 for Biomedical Catalyst 2022 opens for applications on Monday 15 August. UK-registered SMEs can apply for a share of up to £25 million to develop “innovative solutions to health and healthcare challenges”. The project can focus on disease prevention and chronic conditions management, earlier detection of disease, tailored treatments changing the underlying disease or offering potential cures, or transformative delivery methods. The cost must be in the £!50,000 to £4 million range and the grant cannot exceed 2 million.

The 2022 Chris Abell Postdoc Business Plan Competition has announced the semi-finalists: Autohaem from the Department of Physics; Automating Tissue Processing, Powersense and SleepWell from the Department of Engineering); BrainChart and Cambridge Adaptive Testing from the Department of Psychiatry; Earables from the Department of Clinical Neurosciences); Ethicronics from the Department of Computer Science and Technology; Smart Windows from the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy; and Sparxell from the Department of Chemistry. The final will be heald on November, 10th.

The Pioneer Group Life Science Accelerator is now open for applications. The program has supported over 200 entrepreneurs and funded 38 companies, which have raised a total of £135 million investment. A range of accelerator programs are available depending on the company stage (Pre-accelerator, Accelerator, Launch and Investment).

Artios has initiated Phase 2 of its ART4215 candidate in combination with talazoparib. ART4215 is an oral small molecule inhibitor of the DNA polymerase theta (Polθ), a tumor-specific DNA damage response (DDR) target involved in the microhomology mediated end joining pathway. Polθ is overexpressed in many tumors and found in low levels in healthy tissue. Talazoparib is an oral poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor. The combined effect of ART4215 and talazoparib is being tested for treatment of BRCA deficient breast cancer. This project was originally in-licensed in 2016 from Cancer Research Horizons as part of the company formation. Interim Phase 1 (tolerability/ pharmacokinetic data) shows a well-tolerated safety profile and Phase 1 (safety/ tolerability data) in advanced solid tumors is expected in the first half of 2023. Phase 2 plans to enroll up to 206 patients across the USA and Europe and data is expected in 2024. Artios is a clinical-stage biotech startup developing small molecule therapeutics that target the DDR process to treat patients suffering from a broad range of cancers. The company has raised US$320 million to date, including the US$153 million Series C (July 2021).

Opto Biosystems has won the 2022 Wolfson Enterprise Competition. Opto is a startup aiming to develop miniaturised implants for the brain to help tackling serious medical conditions. The company was founded by University of Cambridge Engineering PhD students Elise Jenkins and Ben Woodington. Opto is also part of the Cancer Tech Accelerator and one of the seven teams accepted onto phase two of the programme. They have been awarded £70,000 in funding by Cancer Research UK, Roche and the Medical Research Council, to develop a proof of concept.

Cryoniss has signed a collaboration agreement with Perfectus Biomed Group. The aim of the partnership is to launch a cell culture service. Cryoniss is a service provider for temperature-controlled biological sample storage and logistics. Perfectus is a contract research organisation specialised in microbiology testing. Te collaboration allows Cryoniss to support customers with the generation of high-quality cell banks in accordance with the ATCC standards.

Inspira Pharmaceuticals has joined the Lab Hotel at Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst (SBC) to develop its IPX enzyme technology. Inspira is an early stage drug discovery company in the respiratory diseases space. The Lab Hotel was founded in 2020 and can accommodate up to four startups at any one time and provides free laboratory and office accommodation for six months. In addition, companies have access to scientific and business support on site as well as access to SBS’s network of investors and mentors.

Complement Therapeutics has appointed Dr Dennis Keefe as Chief Scientific Officer. Dr Keefe joins from Prothelia(CSO) and has over 15 years of experience across multiple therapeutic platforms (small molecules, biologics, RNA medicines and gene therapy). Prior to this, he held senior roles at Millenium Pharmaceuticals, Shire Pharmaceuticalsand Stealth Biotherapeutics, where he led the preclinical development of the ophthalmology pipeline. Complement Therapeutics is an early stage startup developing therapeutics for complement-mediated diseases as well as a unique quantification methodology, the Complement Precision Medicine platform.

Cambridge Science Park has appointed Jane Hutchins as Director of Operations and Communications. Hutchins joins from the University of Southampton Science Park and will work in partnership with Trinity College, Cambridge and Bidwells LLP in designing the future of the Park.

Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst has appointed Bob Tattar, CA as Chief Financial Officer. Tattar joins from Martin's Properties. Prior to that, he held leadership roles at Capco PLC (Head of Commercial Finance) and Liberty International (Divisional Finance Director of the Capital & Counties).

Arecor Therapeutics PLC (AIM: AREC) has been granted by the European Patent Office two patents protecting its novel formulations of high concentration Humira biosimilar. Humira (adalimumab) is a monoclonal antibody indicated for a number of inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis or Chron’s disease. It is sold by AbbVie and has been a blockbuster ever since launching in 2003 (global sales in 2021 reported as $21 billion). Humira was originally approved as a 50 mg/ml product comprising citrate as key formulation ingredient, which AbbVie further improved to 100 mg/ml without citrate. High-concentration adalimumab represents now 80% of the total US market. Arecor’s patents (EP3592383B1 and EP3592385B1) allow achieving adalimumab concentration over 100 mg/ml, which have been achieved using Arestat, its proprietary formulation technology platform .

Enhertu has been approved in the US as the first HER2-directed therapy for patients with previously treated HER2-mutant (HER2m) metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). HER2 a tyrosine kinase receptor growth-promoting protein expressed on the surface of many types of tumours, including lung, breast, gastric and colorectal cancers. This is the third tumour type approved by the FDA for Enhertu **in three years, following approval in breast and gastric cancers. Enhertu is an engineered HER2-directed antibody drug conjugate (ADC) being jointly developed and commercialised by AstraZeneca (LSE/STO/Nasdaq: AZN) and Daiichi Sankyo. They have announced Enhertu reported a confirmed objective response rate of 57.7% in patients with HER2m. Notably, about 60% of HER2-negative patients fall into the HER2-low category, i.e., there is some HER2 protein, but not enough to be considered HER2-positive. Enhertu was first approved in December 2019 in HER2-positive breast cancer. AstraZeneca paid $1.35 billion upfront for the collaboration rights, and upon this approval will owe Daiichi Sankyo further $200 million in milestone payments. Good timing, as Daiichi recently lost a $42 million patent infringement case.

AstraZeneca axes Phase 2 heart disease drug in partnership with Moderna. AZD8601 is an mRNA-based therapy encoding the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF-A), a paracrine factor involved in new blood vessel formation and the production of specialised cells that contribute to repair and regeneration of the heart. AZD8601 was being administered during the trials directly into the myocardium of patients undergoing elective coronary artery bypass surgery. AZD8601 is still listed as part of Moderna’s pipeline.

More on axing! Galapagos has dropped yet another 4 programs, including a JAK1/TYK2 inhibitor for inflammatory diseases, a JAK1 inhibitor for osteoarthritis, a chitinase inhibitor for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and a compound with an undisclosed mode of action tackling fibrosis. Galapagos has also pulled out metabolic diseases and osteoarthritis R&D and handled back certain respiratory disease drug rights to Molecure. Why? Galapagos new strategy under Paul Stoffels will focus on CAR-T target of heematological cancers and, in the long term, severe long-term solid cancers.

Overview piece in The Economist on the British life-science industry, mostly focused on the Golden Triangle. It does a fairly good job in showcasing the beauty (excellent scientific research and network) and the beast (funding, housing affordability and the challenges in hiring employees and finding lab space). On that, this article in the Financial Timesshows a pretty staggering figure of the available versus required lab and office space in Oxford and Cambridge.

Deep Science Ventures has written an interesting piece on why agriculture venture-building should focus on bioregions. Recently, Deep Science Ventures (DSV) and the CRUSA Foundation announced the launch of the Tropical Agriculture & Bioeconomy Initiative (TABI), whose aim is designing and launching startups in Costa Rica in the agriculture sector.

More on agriculture, as the UK is considering lowering restrictions on gene-edited crops. Neil Ward from PacBio has written a piece for Labiotech explaining how these changes could impact the field.

The Founder Hour talks to Beirut-born Noubar Afeyan, founder and CEO of life sciences innovation firm Flagship Pioneering, and chairman and co-founder of Moderna.