Chardonay is just about to be uncorked for those working in and around foodtech industry, lab-grown meat, fish, and engineered crops. News from the government and the investment funds this time go hand in hand, surprise! Peter Trill and Alan Wise are back in town with a new DDR venture. Looking for your dose of pre-clinical micro-IPO? Worry not. Katrine Bosley is joining Advent and Noubar Afeyan has backed upRubius Therapeutics. A few companies are expanding operations in Cambridge, and that is certainly another reason to celebrate. However, we all probably will need to suck in our belly if we want to keep expanding the thriving biotech ecosystem, as lab space keeps being a real issue. Let’s dive in!

Housekeeping note: I am uncertain on how enthusiastically the biotech ecosystem will celebrating the Jubilee and so how much of relevant updates there will be. It may be that we only get a shorter edition of Cambridge Biocapital. Time permitting and if there are not many news, we will explore a particular topic in a bit more detail.

Duke Street Bio has emerged from stealth. The startup is tackling DNA damage repair (DDR) by developing inhibitors to PARP1 and PARP7, two targets in the PARP space (Poly(ADP)-ribose polymerase). Although PARP inhibitors market is already fairly competed (GSK/Tesaro’s Zejula; AstraZeneca/Merck’s Lynparza, Pfizer’s Talzenna, Clovis’s Rubraca), the current dosing has limitations due to blood toxicity and off-target effects (mainly to PARP2). Most of the current treatments inhibit PARP1, whereas targeting PARP7 may lead to restore Type I interferon signaling in tumour cells. This strategy is similar to what Ribon Therapeutics (Cambridge, US) is doing and was backed by major pharma players in raising series B in 2021. Likewise, Artios Pharma (UK), Breakpoints Therapeutics (Germany) and Onxeo (France) are developing DDR-inhibitors. It does not seem competition is going to put Duke Street Bio co-founders off: Peter Trill and Alan Wise sold IOmet Pharma to Merck for $400 million in 2016. They are using the same model that led to success with IOmet, a series of contract labs across the world that perform most of the experiments.

uMotif has raised $25.5 million extended series A. The round was led by Athyrium Capital Management. original series A was backed by Albion VC and DNV. The company is developing a decentralised clinical trial platform. According to company data, their software allows for 33% reductions in data capture time and has worked with big pharma companies such as AstraZeneca and AbbVie.

Shellworks has raised $6.2 million seed funding. The round was led by LocalGlobe. Shellworks is developing Vivomer, a novel material based on microbes from marine and soil environments to create vegan, sustainable petroleum-free packaging. The funding will be used to scale the technology and invest in structures for commercial growth. The company was founded in 2019 by Insiya Jafferjee and Amir Afshar who met at the Royal College of Art and Imperial College of London.

London-based OKYO Pharma has raised $2.5 million from its NASDAQ IPO (625,000 shares, $4/per share). OKYO is a preclinical company focused on GPCR-driven mechanisms such as inflammation and pain in the space of eye-related diseases. The company is developing OK-101, their lead preclinical candidate for keratoconjunctivitis sicca (dry-eye disease), and OK-201, a lipidated-peptide preclinical analogue.

Alterola Biotech has expressed intention to apply for a London Stock Exchange listing. No further details have been disclosed yet. The company has also appointed David Hitchcock OBE (former Managing Director at JP Morgan and Head of Investor Client Management) as Non-Executive Director. Alterola Biotech is a preclinical company developing cannabinoid and cannabinoid-like molecules for humans and animals. Their pipeline has not been disclosed.

London-based Novator Ventures and Wellington Partners have invested in Sweeden-based Sidekick Health. The company has raised $55 million series B to build out their commercial footprint in US. The company is developing a multi-chronic digital therapeutics platform and aims to reach 40 therapeutic areas. The system provides provide concierge services and recommendations in medication adherence. Big Pharma has shown interest in this kind of platforms. Sidekick Health and Pfizerhave signed a $8 million deal that focuses on patients from Finland with inflammatory conditions like with arthritis, atopic dermatitis, and inflammatory bowel diseases (e.g., ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease).

London-based Synthesis Capital has launched the world largest fund dedicated to invest in food technology and alternative protein technology platforms. Synthesis Capital Fund I has over £238 million in assets under management and is backed by CPT Capital, Société Familiale d’Investissements, Nuveen, Credit Suisse Climate Innovation Fund, Sir Ronald Cohen (Dynamic Loop Capital), and others, including trusts associated with the Sainsbury family. Synthesis Capital portfolio includes Upside Foods, Perfect Day, Redefine Meat and Culture Biosciences. Joining the dots, scroll down to the Interesting reads section to see what is happening with the Genetic Technology & Precision Breeding Bill.

Former Editas Medicine COE Katrine Bosley is joining Advent Life Sciences as Venture Partner. Advent is also bringing on board Dominic Schmidt (ex-Syncona) and Satish Jindal (ex-CEO at BioMotiv)

LifeArc-funded Francis Crick Institute accelerator program KQ Labs is accepting applications. They focus on data-driven biotech and health ventures. Selected companies will have access to mentoring, investors, and pharma introductions and up to £40,000 in the form of a convertible loan note. Last cohort included Concinnity Genetics(improved safety and efficacy of gene therapies using AI), Enedra Therapeutics (synthetic lethality in cancer heterogenicity), and Exogene (TCR-based cell therapy), among others.

Greg Zuckerman (WSJ) reports Perceptive Advisors is telling investors valuations are now at levels “we do not believe are rationale or sustainable...now is the time to be prepared to go on the offensive.” Not the first ones saying this; not the last ones, I am afraid.

Alumni from the University of Cambridge IGNITE program have attracted more than £410 million funding for their companies (Deepcell, Porotech, Microfluidix, Spirea, etc). The program has supported more than 1,100 entrepreneurs across 50 countries.

BioMoti has signed a collaboration agreement with an undisclosed global pharmaceutical company to develop its lead ovarian cancer candidate (BMT101) to Phase 2 proof-of-concept. BMT101 is a treatment consisting of a CD95-coated long-acting paclitaxel-loaded microparticles. So far, proof-of concept studies in comparison with standard-of-care paclitaxel have shown 10-fold increases in drug concentration in tumours, 65-fold reductions in tumour burden. BMT101 is one of the company’s Oncojans a new class of treatments for precision delivery and improved accessibility to cancer cells.

Cambridge-based Charco Neurotech and Queen Mary University of London have enter a Knowledge Transfer Partnership agreement to develop a wearable device to milden Parkinson symtoms. The collaboration builds on a £120,000 Innovate UKfunding to Charco. The device delivers individualised peripheral nerve stimulation, thus alleviating slowness and stiffness while the patient is moving. Currently, there is a waiting list of more than 7,000 people.

London-based ALSA Ventures and Lonza have partnered to help developing and manufacturing drug candidates for ALSA’s portfolio of pre-clinical and early clinical biotech startups.

Cambridge-based Alchemab has appointed Young Kwon, PhD as Chief Executive Officer. Dr Kwon (ex-CFO and CBO at Momenta Therapeutics, BD at Biogen, ex-VC at Advanced Technology Ventures) was the company’s Chief Financial Officer and succeeds Douglas A. Treco, who steps down for personal reasons.

Cambridge-based CN Bio has appointed Dr Paul Brooks, PhD as Chief Business Officer. The company is developing single- and multi-organ microphysiological systems (MPS). Dr Brooks joins from Horizon Discovery where he served as Managing Director and led the Business Operations team. He has also held various roles at Sigma/MilliporeSigma and Oxford Genetics.

Bicycle Therapeutics has unveiled two new sites in Cambridge, UK (Granta Park) and Greater Boston cluster, US. NASDAQ-quoted public company has around 180 employees, a figure that may increase by 30pc in the next 7 months. Bicycle is presenting trial progress in BT7480 Phase I/II clinical trial at the 2022 ASCO Annual Meeting, so we will be on this soon.

Japanese-owned Cambridge-based Sosei Heptares is expanding into a second site in Granta Park (Cori Building). The company is developing a GPRC-focused structure-based drug design and development platform.

VaxEquity has announced expansion to Cambridge Science Park. In addition, the company has appointed Rob Barber, PhD (ex-Oxford Biomedica, Novartis) as Senior Director and Conor Woolfson (ex-IXICO plc) as Finance Director.

Syncona-backed Achilles Therapeutics is looking for candidates for the HORIZON-MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship.

Upperton Pharma Solution is investing £15 million into their new 50,000 sq ft facility in Nottingham, scheduled to be completed late 2023. Upperton is a contract development and manufacturing organisation specialised in a wide range of non-sterile, finished dosage formats, as well as in spray drying, a particle engineering technology for targeted delivery of drugs to the lungs and nasal cavity.

Sanofi has reported unprecedented Phase 3 median progression free survival (mPFS)in patients with relapsed multiple myeloma receiving Sarclisa. This treatment consists of a proteasome inhibitor backbone. mPFS increased from 19.2 to 35.7 months when Sarclisa was taken together with carfilzomib and dexamethasone.

Bayer is leaving the $670 million mesothelin-directed CAR-T agreement with Atara Biotherapeutics. This happens only three months after a death put on hold a clinical trial for autologous prospect ATA2271. Although no connection with the death has been established yet, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center has paused enrolment.

Big-deal Noubar Afeyan is hands on with Rubius Thereapeutics after Wall St. seemed to give up. Let’s see if they make it to the Great Comeback List (Jazz Therapeutics, Pharmacyclics, Human Genome Sciences, etc.). Dr. Afeyan is the founder and CEO of Flagship Pioneering, and co-founder and Chairman of Moderna. Currently, he also sits on the board of Omega Therapeutics, Genrate Biomedicines, and Tessera Therapeutics.

We might be purchasing gene-edited food sooner than expected. Good news for Tropic Biosciences et al, as the Environment Secretary George Eustice has revelaed the Genetic Technology & Precision Breeding Bill can get Royal Assent this year.

Are AI-designed drugs patentable? It is no breakning-news that patent law is getting outdated. Artificial Intelligence sets a challenge for regulators and entrepreneurs as inventions devised by computers require their own IP law. More on this here.

A conversation with Cambridge Angels Simon Thorpe and Phil O’Donovan on what makes a good investment and why Cambridge is a great place for business.

Careers in Discovery talks to Simon Ward (Medicines Discovery Institute at Cardiff University). Good thoughts on the beauty of moving from academia to industry and vice versa. I encourage PhD students reading this to tune in.