What a week, captain! Former co-workers at GSK —and yet friends— Dr Neal Miller and Richard Rutter are celebrating £16 million Series for their new venture NRG Therapeutics. Raison d'etre? The mitochondrial permeability transition pore. While we are surely up to date with the work of the 19th-century diagnostician Sir William Osler, there are news from the other Osler, Osler Diagnostics, as the company has raised $85 million Series C. Marlet Capital-backed Kalium Health has raised an over-subscribed investment round to build better technology for monitoring blood potassium, a bigger deal than it may seem at first. Talking about outstanding challenges, the UK is home to over 140 genomics companies and yet patients might not be benefiting as much as they possibly could. Or so the Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry states in its most recent report. KQ Labshas announced the 5th cohort of startups to be part in the KQ Labs Accelerator Program. Also, some blood types are so rare there might only be 10 people in the country able to donate. That is why the world-first clinical trial to test artificial blood has just started in the UK. More on excelling at clinical trials: Cancer Research UK has announced TRACERx EVO,a programme to build on the discoveries made in the world’s largest long-term lung study. Drew Wightman has joined Alantra as Managing Director for the Life Science area and Elizabeth Klein has joined Calculus Capital. While your calendars are certainly filling up with Christmas dinners, make sure you leave space to go visit the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2022 exhibition. Music? Peter Yorn and Scarlett Johansson. Now, ask for a large cappuccino, there is a lot to get through. Let’s dive in!

Oxford-based Osler Diagnostics has raised $85 million Series C. The funding was led by M&G Investments and participated by existing investors including Oxford Science Enterprises, Braavos Investment Advisers, and Lansdowne Partners. The proceedings of the round will be used to advance Osler Origin, a portable diagnostic device that according to the company can perform a wide range of testing at a reduced cost. The company was span out in 2017 from the University of Oxford and named after the 19th-century diagnostician Sir William Osler. It emerged from stealth mode in March, 2022 having raised $100 million since inception. However, not much has been disclosed about Origin and actual performance numbers but the company has indicated to have begun regulatory work in 2022. Despite of the Theranos drama, there is a substantial interest in one-device-fits-all diagnostic tools.

Cambridge-based Kalium Health has raised an over-subscribed investment round (undisclosed details) led by Cambridge Enterprise and participated by Kidney Research UK and Martlet Capital, which have joined the Board of Directors. Kalium Health was span out of the University of Cambridge in 2018. The company is developing a technology to monitor blood potassium in a way that patients can use it autonomously. Funds will be used to advance the technology, expand to other clinical settings and develop partnerships across the globe. Kalium Health has also announced new facilities at Allia Cambridge Future Campus including R&D laboratories, space for prototype manufacturing lines and offices. Further investment and expansion is planned for 2023. Keeping balanced potassium levels is key for homeostasis and human health. However, such balance is affected by kidney disease and heart failure which affects cost of treatments and can lead to illness or sudden death.

Stevenage-based NRG Therapeutics has announced £16 million Series A. The investment was led by Omega Funds and participated by new investor Brandon Capital (Australia) and existing investor Parkinson's Virtual Biotech. NRG is targeting mitochondrial disfunction and its role in chronic neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson Disease (PD) and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). The company is developing orally-bioavailable brain -penetrant small molecules aiming to inhibit the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP). Inhibition of the mPTP has been shown to protect neurons, reduce neuro-inflammation, and extend survival in pre-clinical disease models. Initially, NRG is targeting a novel pathological mechanism in ALS, through which the protein TDP-43 triggers neuro-inflammation via activation of the innate immune sensor STING, that was identified by its collaborator Prof Seth Masters at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (Australia). The proceedings of the round will be used to develop a pipeline of potential first-in-class its leading candidates through IND-enabling studies. Omega Funds Managing Director Claudio Nessi and Partner Francesco Draetta, as well as Brandon Capital Partner Jonathan Tobin, have joined the company’s Board of Directors. This is Brandon’s second investment in the UK since opening its London office in 2021, following its recently announced investment in Pheon Therapeutics. In addition, Prof Seth Masters has been appointed as Vice President of Discovery Biology.

Solvemed Group has become a Cambridge Angels company. Angel investors John Taysom and Nick Balon have participated in the company’s most recent investment round (undisclosed details). Last year, Cambridge Angels received over 1,300 applications from startups and decided to invest in 16, including Solvemed Group. Additionally, the company is currently backed by Atmos, Apex Ventures, Sunfish Partners, Tensor Ventures, Preface Ventures, Techni Ventures, and Atomico.

KQ Labs has announced the 5th cohort of startups to be part in the KQ Labs Accelerator Program, run by the Francis Crick Institute and funded by LifeArc and in partnership with Cancer Research Horizons. Over 5 months, the companies are offered weekly workshops, access to personalised mentoring, funding in the form of a convertible loan, and introductions to key investors and corporations. The 10 selected startups are: CardiaTec BioSciences (University of Cambridge spin-out; AI-driven multi-omics drug target discovery platform for cardiovascular drug discover), Cytecom(tackling antimicrobial resistance (AMR); AMR profiles at the point-of-care to rapidly informing about the most adequate antimicrobial therapy); Dama Health (genomics for personalise contraception and other areas of female health); Proxximos (Next generation digital contact tracing); RareCan (health tech company specialising in supporting patients with rare cancer); StoreGene (genomic insights for data driven precision medicine using a single test); and Strolll (digital therapeutics (DTx) software for augmented reality glasses to assist people with neurological disorders).

Barclays Eagle Labs (BEL) and University of Edinburgh’s Venture Incubator Program (VBI) have set up a new partnership to fuel early stage startups. 24 new cohort companies operating in sectors such as health, oncology, green technology, agritech, animal welfare, etc have been announced for this year’s VBI. BEL will support oncology-related companies, which will also benefit from an existing partnership with Cancer Research Horizons, and will provide access to Eagle Labs premises across the UK. Among the selected health startups, Less Grey is developing triaging technology to help prostate cancer patients, and Naela Technologies is working on an improved form of vibrational spectroscope to enhance cancer-detection.

Applications for the Shott Scale Up Accelerator are now open. Shott Scale Up Accelerator is funded by the Department of Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy, and Ian Shott CBE FREng. Applications deadline is November, 28 and the 6-months program starts in March 2023. The accelerator program does not take equity or charge fees. It provides a £10,000 grant for leaddership training, monthy one-to-one mentorship, training workshops, free access to the Taylor Centre (central London office) and to its regional hub in Ormeau Baths, Belfast; travel and accommodation expenses covered, and Lifetime membership of the Enterprise Hub.

University of York has joined Northern Accelerator to advance the North innovation ecosystem. The partnership, now consisting of Durham, Newcastle, Northumbria, Sunderland, Teesside and York, aims to level up private sector R&D investment to contribute to sectors such as health, life-sciences and green technology. According to the accelerator, over 670 people are currently employed by spin-out businesses from the partnership’s universities.

Science Creates Ventures has secured up to £15 million from British Business Investments, a wholly-owned commercial subsidiary of the British Business Bank, through the Regional Angels Programme. The funding will be invested in startups at Pre-seed, Seed and Series A stages across the UK, with a particular focus on South West England. The majority of the commitment will be invested alongside SCV Fund 2, while a small proportion will be used for co-investments through the existing SCV EIS Fund (SCV Fund 1). Science Create Ventures portfolio includesCarbometrics, Cytoseek, OxDx, imophoron, and Portal Biotech, among others.

LifeArc has launched a new fund for gene therapy technologies. The fund has a £5 million annual capacity and includes support from the world-class network of Innovation Hubs for Gene Therapies. The fund will provide grants to academic researchers working to advance gene therapies from preclinical research to early clinical studies, including the manufacturing and clinical costs. Successful projects will be awarded additional funding.

Swedish EQT's (EQTAB.ST) venture capital fund has raised $1.1 billion fro its EQT Ventures III: New Frontiers. Two thirds of the new fund will be invested in European early stage startups, whereas the remaining third will be invested in UK and US. EQT Ventures has invested in 15 companies in the UK including Supplant. Earlier this year EQT Growth announced a $2.4 billion fund aimed at scaling startups out of Europe.

So far, European early stage health-tech startups —yes, this includes the UK, Nadine— has reached €3.9 billion. Using data from Dealroom, Sifted has pulled together the most active pre-series A investors: Calm/Storm Ventures (Austria), the European Innovation Council Fund, Scottish Enterprise (EU-wide), Scottish Enterprise (UK), BPifrance(France), Nina Capital (Spain), High-Tech Grunderfonds (Germany), Parkwalk Advisors (UK), Enterprise Ireland(Ireland), British Growth Fund (UK), and Capital Cell (Spain).

According to the Venture Capital Journal, there are only three European VC firms are in the top 50 list of firms who raised the most funds in the last 5 years. Spoiler: non is headquartered in the UK: Cathay Innovation (Paris, 32nd), Index Partners (Geneva, 33rd), and Sofinnova Partners (Paris, 42nd).

KPMG’s Q3 Venture Pulse report states £4 billion of VC capital was invested in UK businesses across the quarter, down from the £8 billion invested in the quarter prior and the lowest since Q3 2020.

Cancer Research UK has announced TRACERx EVO, a programme to build on the discoveries made in the world’s largest long-term lung study (TRACERx). TRACERx was awarded over £10m to investigate how lung cancer evolves over time and why treatments sometimes stop working. TRACERx was developed using infrastructure at the Francis Crick Institute, University College London and the University of Manchester.

Glasgow-based EnteroBiotix has partnered with Imperial College London to advance microbiome research in patients suffering from blood cancer. The collaboration will manage a Phase IIa investigator initiated trial to evaluate how EBX-102 impacts on outcomes of bone marrow transplant patients with blood cancer. The trial belongs to the Microbiota Transplant Prior to Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation (MAST) study, run across six of the UK’s leading blood cancer centres. Further research will be supported by EnteroBiotix’s GMP manufacturing facility that recently was granted a Manufacturer’s licence for Investigational Medicinal Products (IMP).

Oxford-based Precision Life has partnered with London/Tokyo-headquartered Sosei Heptares to evaluate the potential of a nominated GPCR target in the neuroscience space. The company will evaluate differences in the chosen target, and in the biological systems on which it acts, between patients and healthy individuals. PrecisionLife is developing an in-house pipeline of targets with patient stratification biomarkers and repositioning assets for co-development with biopharma partners in over 40 chronic diseases. In addition, it has recently published the first genetic link between Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

US-based Advent-backed Aleta Biotherapeutics has been granted an Innovation Passport Designation for its CAR T-Cell Therapy Engager ALETA-001 by the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). ALETA-001 was developed for patient relapse after CD19-targeted CAR T-cell cancer treatment. The therapy has been developed in collaboration with the Cancer Research UK Centre for Drug Development.

The Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry has published a report stating “The UK is a world leader in genomics, but this position could soon be undermined if UK patients cannot benefit from the nation’s genomics expertise”. Good insights and even better take home messages for the Government and NHS authorities.

Rinri Therapeutic-funded scientists from the University of Sheffield, University of Nottingham, Guy’s and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust, Western University (Canada) and Uppsala University (Sweden) have discovered a secure surgical pathway to the central core of the human cochlea fro the first time. The research is key for first-in-human trials of cell and gene therapies for the inner ear. The work has been published in Scientific Reports. Rinri Therapeutics is developing regenerative cell therapies for sensorineural hearing loss.

Using an adenovirus-poxvirus heterologous prime-boost regimen, scientists at Oxford-headquartered Vaccitech(NASDAQ: VACC) have shown intravenous administration of viral vectors expressing prostate cancer antigens induced high magnitude, functional CD8+ T cells.

The Biotechnology and Biosciences Research Council (BBRS) and the Medical Research Council (MRC) have awarded £2 million funding to 12 UK-based institutions to tackle the monkeypox outbreak. The consortium is led by the Pirbright Institute and the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research.

Innovate UK's Medicines Manufacturing division has announced two new funding competitions: Innovative Technologies for Nucleic Acid Medicines Manufacturing and Digitalisation and Automation of Medicines R&D and Manufacture. Applicants can be awarded with a share of up to £5 million.

Paris-based Genomic Vision and Cambridge Consultants have partnered to develop a technology platform to analyse structural and functional genome modifications. The platform will aim to improve the state of the art while focusing on meeting pharmaceutical requirements.

Dundee-based Ubiquigent has appointed Dr Hozefa Amijee as Head of Business Development. Dr Amijee joins from Cellesce where he was Head of Business Development, and brings over 20 years’ scientific and commercial experience in the life sciences industry. Previously, he was part of RxCelerate, Total Scientific and Senexis. Ubiquigent is developing novel deubiquitinase modulators as new therapeutics for areas of high unmet medical need.

Metacarpal has been awarded the Converge Challenge 2022 Prize for its Metacarpal Bionic Hand. The prize includes £10,000 of equity free grant funding and further £4,000 from Converge's partner companies.

Sphere Fluidics has inaugurated new laboratory facilities in in Granta Park, Cambridgeshire. The company has doubled its capacity as the first phase of building includes 7,000 sq ft of space, including a demonstration lab for the company’s single-cell analysis and monoclonality assurance systems. The second phase will expand the company’s footprint to 30,000 sq ft and will be completed by the end of 2023. Sphere Fluidics is currently based at Babraham Research Campus. In addition, the company has appointed Nick Pappas as Director of Business Development (former Business Development Manager at UK Research and Innovation, ex-Sharp Life Sciences, ex-GE Healthcare).

Alantra has appointed Drew Wightman as Managing Director for the Life Science area. Wightman joins from AstraZenca where he was Director of Deal Finance and M&A. Prior to that, he was part of Ernst & Young, Novartisand Deloitte. Alantra is an international financial services providing investment banking, alternative asset management and credit portfolio advisory services.

Calculus Capital has appointed Elizabeth Klein as Investment Director for the Life Science area. Klein joins from Klein-Edmonds Associates, which she co-founded. Calculus recently launched a HMRC-approved Knowledge Intensive EIS Fund and a Venture Capital Trust (VCT) to invest in technology, healthcare and entertainment sectors.

UK-headquartered Adaptimmune (NASDAQ:ADAP) has pushed back allogeneic MAGE-A4 clinical trial readiness by 2 years (2025) after detecting a chromosomal abnormality in the first batch of the cell line used for the off-the-shelf therapy. In addition, the company has decided to lay off up to 30% of staff to extend cash runway into 2025, and has delayed investment for commercialising afami-cel (autologous, genetically modified T-cells).

Insilico Medicines has entered a $1.2 billion collaboration with Sanofi (EPA:SAN), the AI drug discovery company’s largest deal to date. The deal grants Sanofi access to Insilico’s AI platform to investigate drug development candidates for up to six targets. Sanofi will pay $21.5 million to cover the upfront and target nomination fees, and further milestones up to $1.2 billion plus tiered royalties.

Abcam (AIM:ABC; NASDAQ:ABCM) has expanded collaboration with NanoString Technologies (NASDAQ: NSTG) to double down in spatial multiomics research. Under the terms of the agreement, Abcam RabMAb recombinant antibodies will be commercialised as part of the first 64-plex protein panel for NanoString’s CosMx Spatial Molecular Imager (SMI). This human immuno-oncology panel is the first on the market to combine high-plex spatial proteomic and transcriptomic analyses at single-cell and sub-cellular resolution.

Lab-grown blood given to people in world-first clinical trial. The research project combines teams in Bristol, Cambridge, London and the NHS Blood and Transplant Unit.

BBC's James Cannon has talked to Ann O'Neill, CEO of Start Codon-backed Adora Digital Health. They discuss her personal journey into leading Adora and how the team is building AI to empower women during menopause.

Are IPOs making a come back? To say it all, in this particular case IPO alone most likely will not be enough to complete the development and commercialisation of any programs.

Patent wars: Moderna’s battle for the spoils of COVID vaccines.

Grant Thornton has launched an event on Public Markets and the Path to IPO: How to prepare to list your company on the stock market.

Conexen Cambridge’s new event has just been announced. It will be co-hosted by founder Paula Bekinschtein (Managing Director of WalkBek Consulting), Dr Hazel Jones (Executive Product Director at AstraZeneca) and Leigt Mumford (Senior Management Consultant at Baringa).

Pension Funds backing venture funds? The UK Environment Agency Pension Fund is now backing Berlin-based World Fund, a climate tech venture capital firm.