A biotechnology firm developing treatments for common cancers has taken up laboratory and office space at a site in Oxford.
Bioarchitech has taken up 870sq ft of research and development (R&D) space at The Oxford Trust's Wood Centre for Innovation in Headington.
The team engineers antibodies and other proteins which they encode within the genome of an oncolytic virus - viruses that can infect and break down cancer cells.
Cancer cells infected by this virus release potent immunotherapy molecules into the tumour microenvironment, manipulating the patient's own immune system to destroy the cancer.
This form of immunotherapy treatment has few potential side effects, negates the requirement for chemotherapy and improves patient outcomes.
Currently, Bioarchitech is validating its immunotherapies in the lab, with plans to launch a Series A fundraising round in 2025 to take their lead candidate into the clinic in solid tumours.
The company's move from the BioEscalator at the University of Oxford's Old Road Campus to the Wood Centre for Innovation is part of a strategy to expand their team and broaden their research programme.
One of nine early-stage companies based at the Wood Centre, Bioarchitech is part of a hub comprised of firms like DJS Antibodies, Samsara Therapeutics, Helio Display Materials, Jack Fertility, Lumai, Spintex, RedShiftBio and PicturaBio.
The company was founded by professor Geoff Hale, Kevin Maskell, and Hannah Chen and LiLi Wang, both scientific advisors.
Mr Maskell, CSO and co-founder of Bioarchitech, said: "Cancer patients are in desperate need of the promising immunotherapies that we have in development.
"The Oxford Trust and the supportive community they have built at the Wood Centre for Innovation is the ideal home for our team to focus on the research needed to make these treatments a reality."
Steve Burgess, CEO of The Oxford Trust, added: "We warmly welcome Bioarchitech to our innovation community at the Wood Centre for Innovation.
"With R&D lab and office space in a beautiful woodland setting right in the heart of the Headington Science Cluster, we now have nine pioneering companies based in our centre, all pushing the boundaries of research and development with breakthroughs in biotech and advancements in deeptech, driving positive change."
The trust’s Wood Centre for Innovation is managed by Oxford Innovation, a spin-out from The Oxford Trust and the UK’s leading operator of innovation centres.
It recently announced that it has submitted plans for the Aspen Building at the Wood Centre for Innovation to provide additional laboratory and office grow-on space for science and tech start-ups.
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