At this year’s Genesis Conference, Oliver Sexton, Investment Director at UKI2S, will be introducing some of the brightest and best rising stars of the biotech industry. Each company will give a short presentation to inform the audience of its technology, aim and vision, offering a unique insight into how these entrepreneurs could shape our future.
The presenting companies will be:
Quethera
Quethera is a gene therapy company developing therapies to reduce progressive visual loss in glaucoma and other conditions affecting the optic nerve. UKI2S was the founding investor of Quethera which was sold in 2018 to Astellas Pharma.
Dr. Widdowson will give an update on Quethera and progress in further novel treatments for the eye.
Atelerix
Atelerix is a spin out from Newcastle University, UK, that has a transformative technology for the storage and transport of viable cells at room temperature, overcoming the barriers and limitations presented by the current need for cryo-shipping. The Company uses its patented process of encapsulating the cells in a natural hydrogel for safe shipment and storage and is developing solutions for the research market and cell therapy. The cells can be recovered when needed by the addition of a gentle, cell-friendly buffer.
UKI2S led the company’s seed round in 2018 and participated in the £700,000 second round alongside Oxford Technology Management and Newable Private Investing, with new investors also joining this round.
Nemesis Bioscience
Nemesis was founded in 2014 to address the global threat posed by increasing bacterial resistance to commonly used antibiotics. The Company is developing Nemesis Symbiotics© – DNA therapeutics administered before antibiotics to inactivate resistance in bacterial pathogens. These will make existing antibiotics effective once more, prevent the spread of resistance genes and so also protect the efficacy of new antibiotics. The technology is applicable to all antibiotic classes, all known resistance mechanisms and all bacteria. UKI2S was one of the Company’s first investors, helping it secure the capital needed to make enough progress to complete subsequent funding rounds.
Glialign
Glialign was established in 2018 to take forward the work of UCL academics in engineering live neural tissue. The founders James Phillips and John Sinden are optimising a method for producing a living nerve growth guide designated “EngNT”, which is intended as an ‘off-the-shelf’ nerve replacement, primarily for peripheral nerve repair. This represents an innovative engineering solution to an unmet clinical need. Following early validation of Glialign’s technology, UKI2S awarded the Company a grant from its Investment Accelerator – in collaboration with Innovate UK – backing the clinical potential of EngNT and its commercial viability.
MicrofluidX
MicrofluidX is tackling the problems of process control, scalability, and cost associated with cell bioprocessing, in particular for autologous cell and gene therapy. Its automated, closed technology allows biologists to easily carry out process development by running dozens of cell culture conditions in parallel with extreme process control, and to scale up seamlessly up to several billion cells for manufacturing at a fraction of the current costs. UKI2S is excited to showcase this innovative company and its technology.
To learn more about UKI2S’ other portfolio companies, visit our Portfolio Page.