CHAIN’s drug delivery platform and lead product, β-hydroxybutyrate, is highlighted in a new report ‘Catalysing Investment and Growth’, released by the BioIndustry Association this week. Our microbiome therapeutics are based on spores of Clostridium bacterial species. We have successfully demonstrated scale-up of bacterial spore production with our partners at Porton Biopharma Ltd as part of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, through a grant awarded by Innovate UK. The project also investigated the feasibility of developing a production facility with another UK company, Scitech Engineering Ltd.
The report explains how investment and growth is driven by the UK life sciences sector and emphasises the need for further public investment in the sector. The report aims to inform the Government, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), and other policymakers as they prepare for the upcoming Spending Review and develop an R&D roadmap to reach the target of raising R&D investment to 2.4% of GDP by 2027. The full report can be found here.
CHAIN features in a new explainer document on engineering biology from the UK Bioindustry Association (BIA) published today. Engineering Biology Explained discusses what these areas are all about, showcasing the important contributions made to these industries by UK bioscience companies and outlining the external environment required to ensure that these areas of innovation continue to benefit patients, the economy and society as a whole.
CHAIN’s contribution to the piece focuses on our novel CADD drug delivery platform, exemplified by our lead product which delivers R-3-hydroxybutyrate to the large intestine. This report is part of a series of four, covering the issues of antimicrobial resistance, cell and gene therapy, engineering biology and genomics. The engineering biology report was published alongside one covering cell and gene therapy. The reports on antimicrobial resistance and genomics will be published later in October 2018.
