Tango! — not just to celebrate Argentina’s success, but to keep up with the just before the holidays week in funding and science news: many interesting companies in this edition of Cambridge Biocapital. This Christmas, the Unified Patent Court is starring as Ebenezer Scrooge. The Interesting Readings section features a piece explaining its implications for the patent landscape. We did not see this coming but the office vacancy rate in London Docklands (including Canary Wharf) has risen to 15%, the highest in the City. Qatar Investment Authority-owned Canary Wharf Group is trying to remedy emptiness by building a new 23-storey, 823,000 sq ft life science campus there. Bent Jakobsen knows how to keep himself busy: a few weeks ago Ascension Therapeutics closed its Series A and now Ectembly has raised funds while using AI to mine TCR theoretical repertoire and Immunocore receives the Prix Galien France 2022. Feed ingredient production accounts for 45% of greenhouse gas emissions from the livestock industry. There is a bit of a debate of whether to pursue culture meat products or rather taking the hybrid approach, lab-grown cells into primarily plant-based products. Good article on this in the Interesting Readings by the Head of the Alternative Protein Program at Nutreco NuFrontiers. While we think about it, Cambridge-based Qkine has raised £4.3 million to keep expanding its production of animal-free growth factors and cytokines for stem cells, organoides and culture meat sectors, already reaching 28 countries. Looking across the pond, US-based BehaVR has acquired OxfordVR to build digital therapeutics for mental and behavioural health. More reasons to celebrate: CellVoyant has appointed a Top 12 Kaggle Master as Lead Machine Learning Engineer and Eli Lilly has revamped its interest in targeting GPCRs by partnering with Sosei Heptares. There is more on Sosei and even more on GSK (p.s. they are moving into Central London too). SV Health has invested in Amphista Therapeutics, but this is only one of the many news on AI-enabled platforms in this edition: Basecamp Research, Pentabind, Alchemab and more. Seedinvest has closed a €500 million fund but FiveLivesalready knew it. The Financial Times has talked to some biotech and tech companies about the Government policy and, sister, the they are not happy about it. This week, Gardel is singing and Prof. Carolyn R. Bertozzi and Prof. Svante Pääbo remind us why we get inevitably excited about science. Let’s dive in!

Cambridge-based Qkine has raised £4.3 million funding. The round was co-led by Parkwalk Advisors and Downing Ventures and participated by several angel investors and funds, 4 of which being Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) funds. The company was awarded £450,000 from the Innovate UK’s Innovation Continuity Loans scheme and secured further support from UK Research and Innovation and the Centre for Process Innovation (High Value Manufacturing Catapult), allowing to double down on the company’s R&D activities. Qkine researches and manufactures high-purity, animal-free growth factors, cytokines, and other complex proteins. It leverages proprietary production methods to tackle the biological, quality and scale-up challenges associated with complex manufacturing processes. The proceedings of the round will be used to scaling up manufacturing, research and commercial operations. In addition, it will facilitate relocating the company’s headquarters to a new state-of-the-art facility in Cambridge, including a β-lactam-free and animal-free manufacturing suite. The company was founded in 2016 by Dr Catherine Elton (CEO) and Dr Marko Hyvönen (CSO). Currently it has export sales in 28 countries across Europe, Asia Pacific and North America and expects to triple the team during the next three years.

London-based Basecamp Research has raised £16.14 million Series A. The round was led by Systemiq Ventures and participated by Valo, Blue Horizon, True Ventures, and Hummingbird Ventures. The company is building a protein database in combination to an artificial intelligence model to design protein-based products for the pharmaceutical, cosmetics and food industries. The AI-enabled database displays protein feature and predict the qualities that occur in similar ones. Basecamp has created a knowledge graph of codes for proteins mined from more than 40 trips around the world, including Antarctica. The company operates on the basis that nature can be further harnessed to discover novel protein components with untapped potential. The proceedings of the round will be used to expand the team, validate internal products and expand its portfolio. Basecamp Research was founded in 2019 and has raised £24.2 million so far.

Cambridge-based STORM Therapeutics has raised $30 million Series B funding. The round was co-led by existing investors M Ventures, Pfizer Ventures, Taiho Ventures LLC, Cambridge Innovation Capital and new investors Fast Track Initiative and the UTokyo Innovation Platform. Existing investors, Seroba Life Sciences and IP Group PLC also participated in the round. STORM is developing small molecule therapies targeting RNA modifying enzymes (RMEs) for oncology and other indications. The company’s potential first-in-class orally-bioavailable candidate STC-15 inhibiting the RNA methyltransferase METTL3 recently reached clinical trials (NCT05584111). In solid tumor and leukemia models, STC-15 triggers efficacy response via direct cytotoxic and immune mechanisms. The proceedings of the round will be used to support the ongoing multiple-ascending dose trial of STC-15 and advance the company’s portfolio.

Cambridge-based Amphista Therapeutics has raised Series B extension funding. The round was led by the Dementia Discovery Fund, a specialist venture capital fund managed by SV Health Managers. The company raised $53 million Series B in March 2021 led by Forbion and Gilde Healthcare and participated by Novartis Venture Fund, and Eli Lilly and Company, BioMotiv and founding investor Advent Life Sciences. The proceedings of the round will be used to perform further preclinical development with a focus on diseases of the central nervous system, particularly dementia. Series B extension comes in recognition to progress made in Amphista’s Eclipsys platform. Amphista Therapeutics is developing bifunctional molecules for targeted protein degradation with a focus on genetic and clinically-validated targets in the neurodegeneration space. It leverages an approach beyond the E3 ligase-based mechanisms classically used by targeted protein degradation companies. Following the fundraising, Dr Christian Jung (Partner in the Dementia Discovery Fund) has been appointed to the Board.

London-based CheMastry Group has raised a “multi-million-pound” seed financing (details not disclosed). The round was led by Science Angel Syndicate and Undeterred Capital and participated by Elbow Beach Capital, Britbots, HERmesa, Fink Family Office, Kadmos Capital, Formic Ventures, Cur8, Key Ventures, and Dhyan. The company is developing automated technology for small to medium-scale chemical production labs for biotech, food tech and the pharmaceutical sector. The proceedings of the round will allow to grow the team and move itno purpose-built premises to expand the company’s manufacturing capabilities and portfolio. Johnatan Matlock, co-founder of Science Angel Syndicate, has joined the Board of Directors.

University of Strathclyde spinout Microplate Dx has raised a £500,000 seed financing. The round was led by Deepbridge Capital and the University of Strathclyde’s Strathclyde Inspire Entrepreneurs Fund, and supplemented by the Stephen Young Entrepreneurship Award for investment into early stage emerging entrepreneurs. In addition, £161,000 non-dilutive grant has been provided by Scottish Enterprise, as well as competition winnings including Scottish EDGE, the Converge Challenge and CPI (Centre for Process Innovation). Microplate Dx has been selected to join Scottish Enterprise’s High Growth Ventures (HGV) portfolio. The company is developing a test to detect antimicrobial resistance in under 40 minutes.

Oxford-based OxfordVR has been acquired by US-based BehaVR and raised $13 million Series B. The round was led by Optum Ventures and Oxford Science Enterprises, and participated by Confluent Health, Accenture Ventures, Chrysalis Ventures and Thornton Capital. The resulting Virtual Reality (VR) Platform will be used to develop clinically-validated digital therapeutics for mental and behavioural health. VR allows clinicians to create multi-sensory patient experiences that the brain processes as real. The resulting company will be led by Aaron Gani, BehaVR founder and CEO.

Cambridge-based Anglia Ruskin University has been awarded £5.7 million to build an Artificial Intelligence (AI) hub across the region. The funding will create three Centres of Excellence for Extended Reality and AI in in Chelmsford, Cambridge and Peterborough. The first of the centres being open for the 2023/24 academic year.

Birmingham-based Aston University has been awarded a £4.8m investment to develop a digital health facility to train medical students. The funding will be used to build a digital hospital ward to provide remote medical services, including an augmented-reality simulation for its optometry simulation suit, as well as simulation training facilities for students of the college.

Cambridge-based Alchemab Therapeutics has been awarded a £1.7 million grant from Innovate UK to investigate a disease-modifying therapy for Huntington’s Disease. The company has discovered a panel of antibodies utilising its proprietary platform. The funding will allow to triage such antibodies and perform preclinical development towards first-in-human studies. The work will be carried out in collaboration with Medicines Discovery Catapult. Alchemab is leveraging the unique antibody response of resilient individuals to develop drugs based on naturally derived antibodies to prevalent, hard-to-treat diseases which do not have disease modifying therapies.

Edinburgh-based Green Bioactives has raised £2.6 million seed financing. The round was led by Eos Advisory, alongside Regenerate Ventures’ Agtech Fund, the Milltrust International Group and Scottish Enterprise. The proceedings of the round will be used to expand the company’s manufacturing capabilities, as well as growing its management and production team. Green Bioactives (est. 2020) is developing bioactive compounds that cannot be readily produced sustainably or economically using alternative production approaches. The company is leveraging a plant vascular stem cells platform to performer various manufacturing processes. Andrew Durkie, Partner at Eos, has been appointed to the Board of Directors.

Manchester-based Carocell Bio has raised £404,000 follow-on funding. The round was led by Deepbridge Capital. The proceedings of the round will support pre-clinical testing for Carocell Bio’s lead anti-inflammatory peptide (JEL3108). JEL3108 is a peptide-based candidate designed to prevent scar formation after surgery through an anti-inflammatory MAP kinase-inhibiting mechanism. Currently, the company is working on optimising the candidate for topical application through a nanoparticle-based system. The candidate could also be investigated for potentially used to treat severe burns and chronic skin conditions such as atopic dermatitis.

Oxford-based Etcembly has raised a financing round (undisclosed details). The fundraising was participated by a new international investor Singapore-based iGlobe Partners. The company was founded in 2020 by Michelle Teng (CEO) and Jacob Hurst (CTO) and closed a seed round in April 2021. Etcembly is developing a machine learning platform (EMLy) to investigate immune repertoires associated to health and disease. EMLy enables AI-based engineering of novel T cell receptors (TCR) from the complete theoretical repertoire to develop novel immunotherapies. Alongside the founders, the company team is formed by Nick Pumphrey as CSO (ex-Immunocore, Adaptimmune); Scott Cuthillas CBO (Pharma executive, ex-Chroma Therapeutics, Ipsen, Valo Therapeutics); Nick Cross as Chariman of the Board (serial entrepreneur), Bent Jakobsen as Director (current CEO of Accession Therapeutics, co-founder of Immunocore and Adaptimmune); John McCafferty as Scientific Advisor (co-founder Maxion Therapeutics, Iontas, and Cambridge Antibody Technology).

Birmingham-based Fallouh Healthcare has been awarded £500,000 grant from Innovate UK to develop a diagnostic solution for cardiac tamponade. The company is developing a device (PerDeCT) to monitor cardiac patients after surgery, when tamponade manifests more frequently. It is a life-threatening condition where fluid builds up around the heart, strangling its ability to beat. The proceedings of the grant will allow building prototype and conduct a usability studies in collaboration with the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Sheffield. The company resides in Unit 9, a short-term medical technology incubator funded by University of Birmingham Enterprise.

Seedinvest has closed a €500 million fund to invest in European tech startups. The fund will invest €300m for its fourth pre-seed and seed stage fund and €200 million will be allocated to follow-on rounds in existing portfolio companies. Two thirds of the new capital has been raised from from existing limited partners, including US New Enterprise Associates, the French sovereign wealth fund Bpifrance, and the European Investment Fund. Seedinvest invests on the Health vertical, including FiveLives (UK-based), Fertifa, and Charles.co, as well as on deeptech, fintech, industrial tech, marketplaces and SaaS. The firm has offices in Berlin, London, Munich, Paris and Vienna. Side note — a survey of 250 UK-based limited partners indicates the majority of British investors plan to invest more on venture capital funds during 2023.

UK tech startups are asking the Government to rethinking research and development tax cuts. The Financial Timeshas published a piece featuring views from Hoxton Farms, Ochre Bio, and Wayve.

The Department of Health and Social Care has announced over £175 million for cutting-edge genomics research. £105 million to speed up diagnosis of rare genetic diseases in newborns. An initial £26 million will support a Genomics England-led program in partnership with the NHS, to evaluate cutting-edge genomic sequencing technology. £22 million will be used to sequence the genomes of up to 25,000 research participants of non-European ancestry, which are currently under-represented in genomic research. The government has also announced up to £25 million of UKRI-MRC funding for a UK wide new initiative on functional genomics. In addition, the Governmenthas announced Genome UK, a plan to deliver cutting-edge genomic healthcare for patients through the NHS.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DAFRA) has announced a £12.5 million fund on farm project with a focus on automation and alternative fertilisers. The aim of the fund is boosting productivity and reduce labour demands. Applicants can be awarded with grants from £500,000 and £1.5 million. This investment forms part of DEFRA's £270m Farming Innovation Programme, which was launched in October 2021.

The Moto Neuron Disease (MND) Collaborative Partnership co-founded by LifeArc will receive an additional £2 million from the Government as part of the £50 million they have committed. The £50 million fun will be distributed as follows: £29.5 million will support specialist research centres and partnerships with leading researchers and £20.5 million has been committed for use in MND research to accelerate work on the most promising treatments. Researchers are welcome to apply through the NIHR and MRC.

HSBC Asset Management and London-based climate change advisory firm Pollination Group have raised $650m for projects aiming to protect the environment. The investments will be done following two strategies, Natural Capital Strategy and Nature Based Carbon Strategy.

Cambridge-based PhoreMost has entered a collaboration agreement with Japan/Us-based ThinkCyte to advance AI-driven phenotypic drug screening. The partnership leverages Phoremost’s phenotypic screening platform (SITESEEKER) and ThinkCyte’s AI-enabled cell characterisation and sorting platform (Ghost Cytometry) aiming to develop new therapies for unmet clinical needs. The project will harness high-content phenotypic drug discovery methods to identify new drug targets associated to disease mechanisms.

Oxford-based Etcembly has announced successful prediction and optimisation of multiple TCR assets for leukaemia and solid tumours. The company's machine learning platform EMLy™ interrogates its database of TCR repertoires to identify novel disease relevant TCRs or re-engineer existing TCRs, following a haplotype independent approach. The platform is applicable to several modalities (i.e. across oncology, autoimmunity, and infectious disease) and has already engineered TCRs for the company’s internal pipeline. Current partners include Illumina, Great Ormond Street Hospital, Zelluna AS, SingHealth, National Cancer Centre Singapore and Imperial College London.

Cancer Research Horizons, Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and New York-based Envisagenics have announced a collaboration agreement. QMUL has analysed samples from over 50 patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) from the genomics, proteomics and drug screening perspective. The partnership will leverage Envisagenics’s AI platform (SpliceCore) and use QMUL's dataset to investigate the role of alternative splicing in AML, a rare hematopoietic cancer. The aim is to accelerate the development of therapeutics and diagnostics in acute myeloid leukaemia.

Oxford-based PrecisionLife has entered a multi-target discovery and validation partnership with Ono Pharmaceuticals. The partnership will leverage PrecisionLife’s combinatorial analytics-generated insights to identify therapeutic targets and patient stratification biomarkers in central nervous system (CNS) disorders, which Ono will further develop. PrecisionLife has analysed over 40 disease indications has developed a portfolio of patented discoveries in its DiseaseBank repository. The collaboration aims to improve the efficiency of finding new drug candidates that are successful in the clinic.

London-based Ori Biotech has partnered with US-based Inceptor Bio to accelerate access to solid tumours cell therapies. Inceptor joins Ori’s LightSpeed Early Access Program (LEAP) to advance its manufacturing capabilities ahead of its first clinical trials in 2024. The partnership will leverage Ori’s expertise in cell therapy manufacturing to build Inceptor’s transition to clinical and ultimately commercial scale manufacturing.

The Edinburgh International Data Facility (EIDF) is harnessing the potential of genomic data management technologies. The project aims to identify genetic variants in rare diseases such as eye malformations and developmental disorders like Cornelia de Lange Syndrome, and population genetics of isolated islands in Scotland and Croatia. The Variant Repository Pilot Project is run in collaboration with Zetta Genomics.

The Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult (CGT Catapult) has launched the first Skills and Training Laboratories courses at Stevenage. The program is supported by £3m of Getting Building Fund investment from Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership. The program will help to develop a pipeline of local talent in and around Stevenage and Hertfordshire. The openign course will be “Biomanufacturing and Advanced Therapies for Non-Biologists”.

Nottingham-based 4D Biomaterials has announced it is now looking for business partners in the medical device sector. The company is a joint spinout from the University of Birmingham and the University of Warwick. The company is commercialising a new class of materials – liquid resins that can be printed into complex medical devices and tissue scaffolds. The company is now looking for business partners in the medical device sector to bring to market its resin.

Cambridge-based CardiaTec has joined the Milner Therapeutics Institute as affiliated Company. CardiaTec is applying artificial intelligence on large-scale multi-omic data to develop novel cardiovascular disease drug targets and is backed by Apex Ventures, LaidLaw Ventures, Cambridge Enterprise, Crista Gali Ventures and O2h Ventures. The Milner Institute has 57 affiliated organisations, 15 academic institutions and 12 pharmaceutical companies.

Camena Bioscience has signed up for 10,000 Black Interns and In2Science. These initiatives aim to improve diversity within the Cambridge biotech ecosystem. Camena will take on three Year 12 students from disadvantages backgrounds and a university student for internships during the summer of 2023.

Hadfield-based RevoluGen has entered a non-exclusive distribution agreement with Thailand-based BioEntist for the distribution of its High Molecular Weight (over 100 kb) DNA extraction product range. RevoluGen’s proprietary technology is derived from a spin-column based protocol to extract HMW-DNA using a high g-force without breaking down long DNA molecules as much as standard spin-column technologies. This technology is relevant for optimal throughput performance of sequencing methods.

Birmingham-based Nonacus has partnered with Vilnus-based Biovita to bring cutting-edge genetic diagnostic solutions to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. The agreement covers Nonacus’ entire portfolio of pre-analytical and next generation sequencing solutions for prenatal care, oncology and other genetic applications. Biovita is a healthcare and life sciences solutions provider.

Canary Wharf Group has announced a new 23-storey, 823,000 sq ft life science campus. According to CoStar, the office vacancy rate in Docklands (including Canary Wharf) has risen to 15%, the highest in London. Current tenants such as Barclays and Clifford Chance are planing to downside their teams there. Canary Wharf Group is owned by the Qatar Investment Authority and Brookfield Property Partners and believes lab space, a scarce resource across the country, will be a better bet. Currently, most of the investment in life science space London has targeted the Knowledge Quarter (including the University College Hospital, the Crick Institute, the Wellcome Trust, among others).

Cambridge (UK) and New York-based Empyrean Neuroscience has formed Scientific Advisory Board. William Z. Potter, M.D., Ph.D. is Emeritus Co-Chair of the Neuroscience Steering Committee at the US Foundation for the National Institutes of Health. Previously, he was NIMH advisor, Vice President at Merck and Executive Director at Lilly’s division of the Neuroscience Therapeutic. Husseini K. Manji, M.D., was most recently Global Head of Neuroscience at Johnson & Johnson and was previously Global Therapeutic Head of Neuroscience at Janssen Research & Development. Francis S. Lee, M.D., Ph.D., is the chairman of the department of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine and Psychiatrist-in-Chief at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, where he oversees one of the largest academic psychiatric programs in the United States. Empyrean Neuroscience is developing a pipeline of neuroactive small molecules derived from fungi and plants to treat neuropsychiatric and neurologic disorders.

Cambridge-based Sphere Fluidics has appointed Richard Hammond, MA., MEng., as Chief Technical Officer. Hammond has over 20 years of experience and has led product and technology development at Alere, CambridgeConsultants and DNA Electronics. In addition, he has worked on the technical aspects of automated cell transfection, CAR-T cell therapy manufacture and digital data storage. Sphere Fluidics is developing single cell analysis systems leveraging its proprietary picodroplet technology.

Bristol-based CellVoyant has appointed Vladimir Slaykovskiy as Lead Machine Learning Engineer. Slaykovskiy is Kaggle Master (top 12) and joins from Flo Health and previously was Senior Machine Learning Engineer at Facebook

London-based PentaBind has been selected as one of the Hello Tomorrow Deep Tech Pioneers. PentaBind is developing an AI-based platform to design oligo-therapeutics for protein binding, a novel modality in the field. The company is backed by Entrepreneur First VC and Panacea Starts.

Cambridge-based Zetta Genomics has won the Tech Trailblazers Big Data 2022. The award recognises the company’s platform XetaBase for genomic data management. The company is leveraging XetaBase to bring actionable genomic data into the clinic.

GSK is leaving its current Brendford (West London) headquarters to move into a Central London office close to the Knowledge Quarter, on the corner of New Oxford Street and Earnshaw Street. The new site, currently known as Earnshaw, is under construction (completion is expected during 2023) and will host around 3,000 people under a hybrid working model,. The move marks a return to Central London, from where the company can trace its origins to the Plough Court Pharmacy, which was established in the City of London, in 1715.

Brentford-headquartered GSK (LSE/NYSE: GSK) has entered an strategic collaboration with US-based Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ: WVE) to advance oligonucleotide therapeutics. Wave will receive an upfront payment of $170 million in cash and equity, as well as further milestones payments and royalties. The partnership grants. GSK exclusive global license to Wave’s preclinical RNA editing program (WVE-006) targeting alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. In addition, GSK will be able to advance up to eight programs and Wave to advance up to three programs for targets informed by GSK’s novel insights. The collaboration will leverage Wave’s PRISM oligonucleotide platform and GSK’s expertise in genetics and genomics. For the WVE-006 program, Wave can receive up to $225 million for development and launching and up to $300 million in sales-related milestone payments, as well as tiered sales royalties. Development and commercialisation responsibilities will transfer to GSK after Wave completes the first-in-patient study.

Brentford-headquartered GSK (LSE/NYSE: GSK) has signed a a research and evaluation agreement with Dublin-based RemedyBio to identify and analyse ‘’certain rare immune cells and their function within tumours’’. No further details have been disclosed. RemedyBio is developing precision patient-derived immune therapies for immuno-oncology.

Cambridge and Tokyo-headquartered Sosei Heptares (TSE: 4565) has entered a drug discovery collaboration with Eli Lilly (LON: 0Q1G) to discover and commercialise small molecules modulating GPCRs associated with diabetes and metabolic diseases. Under the terms of the agreement, Sosei Heptares will focus on GPCR targets nominated by Lilly to deliver novel target-selective small molecule hit candidates. The company will be eligible to receive upfront payments of $37 million and development and commercial milestone payments of up to $694 million. Lilly will carry out the development, commercialisation work for the selected candidates.

More on Sosei! Sosei Heptares has received $10 million milestone payment from AbbVie as part of their ongoing inflammatory diseases discovery collaboration and option-to-license agreement. In addition, Sosei Heptares and AbbVie have a multi-target collaboration underway (2022), to discover, develop and commercialise candidates targeting neurological diseases, which may trigger up to $1.2 billion plus royalties.

Oxford-headquartered Immunocore (NASDAQ: IMCR) has been awarded the prestigious Prix Galien France 2022award in the ‘Medicine in Innovative Therapeutics’ category, for KIMMTRAK. It is the first bispecific T cell engager to receive regulatory approval to treat a solid tumor, and the only approved therapy for the treatment of unresectable or metastatic uveal melanoma. KIMMTRAK was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; the European Commission; and health authorities in the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada in the first half of 2022.

Alderley Park-headquartered BiVictriX Therapeutics (AIM: BVX) BVX001 program a new development lead for its BVX001 program. The lead was developed using BiVictriX’s proprietary Bi-Cygni approach (antibody-drug conjugates for oncology indications selectively targeting antigen pairs). The lead will now be progressed to in vivo studies, including models of acute myeloid leukemia, as well as safety studies.

Oxford-headquartered Oxford Biomedica’s (LSE:OXB) subsidiary Oxford Biomedica Solutions (OBS) has announced three new undisclosed, U.S. based biotechnology companies. The announcement brings to four the AAV customers, two ahead of the target for the year. OBS’ end-to-end capabilities range from construct design to process development to IND support and GMP manufacturing. Under the terms of the agreement, Oxford Biomedica Solutions will provide its full platform to support the new partners’ pre-clinical gene therapy programmes.

Basel-headquartered Novartis (SWX:NOVN) has joined the Cancer Research UK DETERMINE Trial for rare cancers, alongside Cancer Research UK’s Centre for Drug Development, the University of Manchester (lead partner) and Roche Products. DETERMINE aims to find out whether existing drugs, including those which are licensed for more common types of cancer, could also benefit patients with rare cancer types that the drug is not currently licensed for.

Morag Peberdy, Sabrina Poulos and Olivia Uitto (Partners at Goodwin Procter) have published a piece on the Unified Patent Court (UPC) issue. In short, beginning in June 2023, a single court proceeding could result in simultaneous revocation of European Patents across multiple European Union countries.

Very interesting interview with Susanne Wiegel, Head of the Alternative Protein Program at Nutreco NuFrontiers, a major global player in animal nutrition solutions and aqua feeds. The company is building a strategy to produce feed ingredients sustainably by producing meat or seafood from animal cells. Nutreco has recently invested on the UK-based Roslin Technologies

A growing number of companies are targeting the cultivated meat market. However, some others have gone down the hybrid approach: small quantities of lab-grown cells into primarily plant-based products. The Food Institute has published a piece on this.

This year Charles River celebrated its 75th anniversary. Sounds of Science has talked to Bill Barbo, who join the company in 1982 and is now Chief Commercial Officer to discuss how the company has grown over the years.

Nature has published an article on how gene therapy is emerging from its dark age or, in other words, how the field is starting to deliver. It features, among others, Gyroscope Therapeutics (acquires by Novartis) therapy targeting dry age-related macular degeneration by boosting the production of complement factor I; and Freeline Therapeutics’ haemophilia B gene therapy, which delivers a functional version of the affected gene.

Denmark-based BioInnovation Institute and the Institute for Protein Design (IPD) at the University of Washington School of Medicine have initiated a collaboration project called MODULATE. Interesting interview with Lance Stewart, Interim Project Director. The BioInnovation Institute is home for several British seed-stage startups such as Sevenless Therapeutics.

According to the latests McKinsey’s report, the six areas attracting the most investment are: cell therapy for wider range or diseases; gene therapies that can edit DNA/RNA; precision medicine for early diagnostics; machine learning-enabled drug discovery, strategies designed for hard-to-hit targets; and new delivery methods.