UK startups attracted half of the Europe’s biotech VC funding in 2021, setting a new record for the ecosystem. UK-based biotechs secured the 4th largest amount of funding in the world, ranking just below China mainland, San Francisco Bay area and Massachusetts.

Cambridge-based Nuclera has closed a $42.5 million Series B round to bring forward their proprietary eProtein desktop bioprinter platform, incorporating AI into proteomics. The round was supported by M&G, Amadeus Capital Partners, and British Business Bank, among others.

Immunotherapy startup Centauri Therapeutics closed £24 million Series A investment round. The founding round has been participated by Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, Evotec SE and Novo Holdings REPAIR Impact Fund, and will initially focus on enhancing the company’s antimicrobial resistance pipeline.

OxDX raises £2.6m pre-seed funding to develop AI-powered rapid diagnostic technology. The round has been co-led by IQ Capital and Ahren Innovation Capital, and aims to enable the company to develop an ultra-fast analysis platform capable of rapidly scaling to many diseases via simple software updates.

Takeda and Galapagos-backed Cambridge startup Qureight secured $1.5 million seed funding to develop AI solution for better data curation in pulmonary hypertension and adverse drug effects in complex lung cancer patients. The round has been led by Playful Capital and seconded by Meltwind, Ascension Ventures and Cambridge Angels.

Novartis has acquired UK-based biotech Gyroscope for $1.5 billion. The transaction generates $442 million upfront cash proceed for Syncona holding in Gyroscope and it is positioned to benefit from any future commercialisation. The startup was founded to advanced in the understanding of the complement system on eye disease and developing gene therapy development for age-related macular degeneration.

Southampton-based Curve Therapeutics and Merck (MSD) have closed a $1.5 billion deal to enable discovering of small molecule drugs against difficult neurology and oncology targets The partnership will benefit from Curve's innovative mammalian cell drug discovery platform.

Cambridge-based Healx has secured from Ovid Therapeutics (NASDAQ:OVID) an exclusive option to license rights to develop and commercialize gaboxadol. The plan is to investigate the compound in combination to AI-identified Healx proprietary components.

Eagle Genomics, Cambridge-based biotech startup developing AI-augmented knowledge discovery platform has been selected for the Catalonia-based initiative to support its expansion into Spanish-speaking markets.

Neophore has meet scientific milestones to enable second Series B contingent. The startup is backed by Astellas Venture Management and Sixth Element Capital, among others. The company aims to bring forward their oncology lead compounds for neoantigen generation in DNA mismatch repair pathway.

Cambridge-based liquid biopsy leader Inivata announced clinical validation for its proprietary RaDaR™ liquid biopsy test in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. The global liquid biopsy market is rapidly growing with $2.5 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach $5.8 billion by 2026 at a CAGR of 18.1%.

Eagle Genomics, Cambridge-based biotech startup developing AI-augmented knowledge discovery platform has been selected for the Catalonia-based initiative to support its expansion into Spanish-speaking markets.

Abzena appoints Kevin Lundquist, former Vice-President of Finance at Revance Therapeutics as Chief Financial Officer

DefiniGEN, Cambridge-based biotech specialised in stem cell-derived human cell production and metabolic disease modelling, appoints Dr. Chris Kirton as Chief Executive Officer

Cambridge biotech startup developing phage technology against microbial resistance, Phico Therapeutics, establishes Scientific Advisory Board.

Achiles Therapeutics, biopharmaceutical company developing precision T cell therapies targeting neoantigens, appoints Dr. Alena Gros, Ph.D and Ben Cretan M.D. to strengthen Scientific Advisory Board.

Moderna in final talks to build mNRA R&D and manufacturing hub in UK.

Shingrix, GSK’s second best selling individual drug in U.K ($2.3 billion sales in 2021), has got yet another head-to-head competitor. Seattle-based Curevo has secured $60 million Series A funding from RA Capital Management, Adjuvant Capital and GC Pharma to fund phase 2b of their shingles vaccine CRV-101.

Sanofi’s Olipudase alfa shown to provide sustained improvement across multiple clinical manifestations of Niemann-Pick disease (NPD) type A and type B. Currently, no treatments are approved for this rare and lethal disease, a spectrum of disorders caused by the same enzymatic deficiency.

First Rounders interviews Ingmar Hoerr**, co-founder and former CEO of **CureVac.

Biotech 2050 Podcast interviews **James Mackay**, Ph.D, founder, and CEO of Aristea Therapeutics and former CEO of Ardea Biosciences following company acquisition by AstraZeneca in 2012.

Enterprising Minds interviews **Dr. Gita Khalili Moghaddam**, founder and CEO of two startups harnessing the potential of AI in diagnostics.