Britain’s genomics landscape and 10 exciting businesses to watch

DnaNudge, a London-based Imperial College London spinout, was founded in 2015 with the mission to democratise healthcare. Its founders are Professor Chris Toumazou, a multi-award-winning innovator, London’s first Regius (Royal) Professor of Engineering and founder of the Imperial College Institute of Biomedical Engineering, and Dr Maria Karvela, a published biologist, geneticist, and a leukaemia researcher.

DnaNudge have created a rapid out-of-lab genotyping technology that is able to decode aspects of DNA, called Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs), in 90 minutes. This information is then used to provide guidance to healthier everyday choices, in order to help improve nutrition and skincare. The process begins by inserting a user’s swab into their patented DnaCartridge. The sample of the DNA is then rapidly heated and cooled, as many times as needed, in their NudgeBox, a portable Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machine, in order to make the sample big enough for detection on their microchip. Once this process is completed, the switch is made onto their chip. As the DnaCartridge contains a multiplex array of 72 wells preloaded with well-researched marker strands of DNA, if the inserted DNA matches any of the markers, a chemical reaction will take place that activates the chip. The NudgeBox then detects these activations, and, in 90 minutes, the results are sent directly to the individual’s smartphone. The sample is then destroyed, to ensure full confidentiality.

With the use of the DnaBean accessory or a smartphone, users are able to scan products to see if said product is red or green. Green means that the product is a good choice, with red meaning the converse. When a red product is scanned, green alternatives will be offered, allowing users to make the best daily choices for them, based on their DNA.

2023 has been an interesting year for DnaNudge. In March, they announced their strategic partnership with Mylab Discovery Solutions, India’s leading biotech company, with the mission to develop next-generation molecular diagnostics for diabetic foot infections and other key health conditions. The first output of this partnership is a diabetic foot ulcer detection kit, assisting clinicians in rapidly identifying bacteria involved in infections and allowing optimal treatment for patients at the point of decision, ultimately reducing the risks of acute complications, limb amputation and antimicrobial resistance.

They have also been selected by WIRED Consulting as a 2023 WIRED Trailblazer, where co-founder Dr Maria Karvela joined an exclusive meeting of visionary leaders from fast-growth London businesses to discuss their technology and innovation story, and explored how innovative companies like theirs are driving positive outcomes for both people and the planet. In addition, in November, they launched a revolutionary genomic handheld device with NantNudge, the first handheld polymerase chain reaction (PCR) genomic diagnostic cartridge and chip. This device will transform real-time decision support for healthy lifestyle choices. It also has the possibility of transforming the diagnosis of infections and cancer risk, which are based on personal genomics at point-of-decision.

PhoreMost, a spinout of the University of Cambridge’s MRC Cancer Unit who are driving the discovery of tomorrow’s medicines, was founded in 2014 by Dr Chris Torrance (Chair, and former-CEO), Professor Ashok Venkitaraman and Dr Grahame Mckenzie. Dr Torrance is a cancer researcher and entrepreneur, with him founding Horizon Discovery in 2007 with the main mission of translating advances in human genome editing into a range of research tools and services in order to assist the discovery of new and improved ‘Personalized Medicines’. Professor Venkitaraman is the Director of the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore, a Distinguished Professor of Medicine at the National University of Singapore, and Program Director at A*STAR. Dr Mckenzie, the former CSO of PhoreMost, is now the VP Discovery Biology at Mosaic Therapeutics.

PhoreMost are the developers of SITESEEKER^TM, a next-generation phenotypic screening platform that is based on the company’s PROTEINi^TM technology, which is able to recognise the best new targets for future therapies as well as how to drug them. This platform has the chance to greatly increase the diversity of novel therapeutics for cancers and other diseases of unmet need. Across the entire human proteome, this platform is also able to systematically unmask druggable sites and directly link them to useful therapeutic functions in a live-cell context. PhoreMost has a unique approach to developing new life-changing therapies through a combination of this platform, and the exploitation of the concurrent revolutions of deep learning in drug design and protein structural simulation.

At the beginning of 2023, PhoreMost triggered a milestone payment in their multi-project target discovery collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies. This collaboration started in January 2020, with the deployment of PhoreMost’s in-house expertise and SITESEEKER^TM platform towards disease-relevant pathways, which were selected by Boehringer Ingelheim. The trigger for this milestone payment was the identification and validation of novel targets, in support of Boehringer Ingelheim’s mission to develop first-in-class therapies that can transform patients’ lives.

Starting their journey in 2002, biotechnology company Plasticell is developing novel therapies with the use of precise manipulation of stem cells and more differentiated cell types, by utilising award-winning combinatorial screening technology. Based in Stevenage, this company was founded by Dr Yen Choo, holder of a PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Cambridge, and the Chairman of Plasticell and of Progenitor Labs. He was also the founder and Chief Scientist of a biotech company Gendaq, a developer of the zinc finger technology which is now used for gene editing. Prior to his entrepreneurial career, he was a staff scientist at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, with this being where he was a pioneer for the engineering of protein-DNA interactions using combinatorial methods under Nobel laureate Sir Aaron Klug. Alongside his role at Plasticell, he sits on the UK Stem Cell Steering Committee, the overseers of national stem cell research and the UK Stem Cell Bank.

Their mission is to develop products for cancer and rare disease indications by manipulating pluripotent and haematopoietic cells. They are progressing several therapeutic programs, such as expanding hematopoietic stem cells from bone marrow and cord blood, and developing allogeneic immunotherapies, red blood cells and platelets from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs).

Plasticell’s CombiCult^TM is their award-winning combinatorial screening technology. It allows for the simultaneous testing of thousands of combinations of cell culture variables for the identification of optimal laboratory protocols for any possible outcome in cell biology. This provides the ability to rapidly develop new and improved cell culture protocols, production of human cells for drug screening, cell expansion and differentiation, gene transduction, and the production of protein. Its compatibility with all cell types, stem cells and iPSCs included, allows for it to be deployed in applications such as stem cell expansion and differentiations, gene transduction, optimal cell line selection, and in providing rare human cells for use in vitro drug discovery, toxicology, or clinical trial stratification.

During the first half of 2023, they announced their collaboration with LambdaGen, a Singapore-based biotechnology company who are commercialising LIGIT (Lambda (λ)-Integrase Genome Insertion Tool), a proprietary genome engineering system which allows for large, multi-gene cassettes or DNA fragments to be specifically inserted in the human genome at safe harbour sites. The focus of this partnership is to use genome editing technologies that are based on synthetic lambda integrases, allowing for specific insertion of large gene cassettes into the human genome, with an end goal to develop an iPSC-derived allogenic immunotherapy platform that can be broadly applied. This project will be part financed by a EUREKA GlobalStars competitive grant worth £400k.

In the latter half of 2023, Plasticell announced that they had secured funding for their project in collaboration with Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult, an independent innovation and technology organisation who specialise in the advancement of cell and gene therapies, and Imperial College London. Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst awarded them £800k of funding to help them develop an integrated and scalable platform able to manufacture allogeneic iPSC derived immunotherapies.

Based in Norfolk, Applied Genomics are providers of environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis services. Founded by Ian Wilson in 2014, Ian is a successful innovator and boundary pusher, having found six other successful companies in the field. Most notably, he is the founder of Benthic Solutions, a marine environmental consultancy and survey company that has revolutionised methodologies in the UK sector. His companies offer specialised and unique services worldwide, thriving even during challenging times, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Applied Genomics’ mission, from incorporation to now, is to provide an alternative to taxonomy, which is the science of naming, describing, and classifying all organisms. They recognised that there was an unsustainable element within their current business model for marine surveys as their taxonomy department would not be able to support the growth they expected, and so they developed an alternative using eDNA, which is DNA that has come off an animal or plant as part of its life cycle. They also recognised that this alternative method could be used for other areas, including water quality, pollution monitoring, and looking for fisheries and for invasive species. Because of this, they find themselves working on very diverse projects, including those focused on air quality, water quality, sediment quality, biodiversity profiling, and regulatory requirements, such as invasive species. Currently, they are working on a project where they are trying to indicate microbial source tracking. In other words, they are attempting to answer the question of, “if there is pollution present in a river, where is it coming from and what kind of animal is the source?”

By supplying eDNA analysis services for areas such as biodiversity monitoring, environmental impact assessment, biosecurity surveillance, and threatened species detection, they are building a more comprehensive understanding of where the ‘wild things’ are. Their solutions are designed to work for local all the way to landscape-scale assessment no matter the environment. Their cost-effective and non-invasive approach provides ecological assessments at a molecular accuracy quickly and with significantly improved delivery.

Their core services can be split into three categories:

• Detection: Their provision of sample collection kits and analysis for targeted detection of species eDNA from environmental samples, allows for the sensitive and accurate detection of targeted species. In order to maximise the probability of eDNA capture and detection, they have developed large-volume sample methods.
• Monitoring: They analyse eDNA samples providing a comprehensive surveillance of all organisms in the surveyed environment that can be detected by eDNA. This biodiversity assessment is helpful in identifying sensitive receptors, assisting in modelling effect zones by providing needed data, and characterising indicator taxa, where the parameters (density, presence or absence, or infant survivorship) of either species or higher taxonomic groups are used as proxy measures of ecosystem conditions, in the presence of environmental pressures.
• Management: They are able to deliver data-driven insights, supporting clients’ adaptive environmental management decisions, site-based environmental impact analyses, mapping of population genetic diversity and informing valuations of natural capital.

An example of what their methodology is can be taken from a water sample. They can extract the organic material from a water sample, and then extract the DNA from this material. By amplifying the DNA, a sequencer is able to analyse it and so the species that the DNA belongs to is identified. They can have between 20-30,000 DNA reads, with each read being a gene sequence of an animal. With a very complex computer program, they can identify which species from that read. This is also used for identifying pollution, as if they pick up a big signature from say human or cow, they can deduce that the faeces has not come from any animal in the water and has been washed off from the land.

Applied Genomics took a major step forward recently. They have developed a machine learning model to replicate the impact seen around a fish farm. This is to satisfy a regulatory requirement, as fish farms have to be monitored on every biomass cycle, which is about every 18 months, to prove that they are not having an impact beyond their planning license. Traditionally, this monitoring is done by more older techniques, such as marine macroinvertebrate surveys, which are slow, expensive, and require many taxonomists. They first took this alternative method to SEPA (Scottish Environmental Protection Agency) about five years ago. SEPA has become the first regulator to accept eDNA as an alternative to other methodological techniques for marine observation. Now, Applied Genomics have a regulator approved tool; the only company in the country to be involved in this and offer this service. They are hopeful to roll this out across the industry later in the year, alongside their continuous goal of expanding their company, their services, and their work.