Developing treatments for chronic kidney disease
University spin-out Purespring Therapeutics sought expert input from the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult to efficiently progress their pre-clinical development plans and secured one of the largest single investment to a UK biotech company from global healthcare giant Syncona.
We were looking for a consultant to provide us with a development plan for this research and the obvious place to go to was Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult. One of the things which really pleased me about this collaboration was their shared excitement around our ground-breaking technology. Importantly we were able to access a diverse range of expertise that probably isn’t available elsewhere. The interaction with the Catapult has gone way beyond the input originally envisaged. The support which we have received from Jonathan Appleby and the team at Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult has been nothing short of fantastic. We are already working with them on other projects.
Commercialising ground-breaking technology from a university spinout
The Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult’s engagement with academia is helping advance commercialisation of research and accelerating technologies into therapies through supporting creation of value propositions and links with investors.
Purespring Therapeutics, a University of Bristol spin-out, seeking to advance and commercialise its ground-breaking gene therapy technology for chronic kidney diseases. The company aims to address a global unmet need for renal conditions by directly targeting the glomerulus in the kidney, which could see treatment progress from lab to patients in three to four years.
The company required investment to commercialise the research pioneered by Professor Moin Saleem, Professor of Paediatric Renal Medicine at Bristol Medical School.
The University team approached the Cell and Gene Catapult as the obvious partner to provide expert input to efficiently progress the opportunity towards clinic.
The Commercialisation of Research team at Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult and the University of Bristol determined the need for gap analysis in order to create a new pre-clinical development plan. The Catapult Team then helped to prepare a submission to the MHRA Innovation Office and led the interaction. The outcome helped validate the assumptions of the new development plan and provided the University of Bristol with a clear route to human clinical trials of their technology. The Catapult and the University of Bristol also worked together on costing the pre-clinical development plan which further supported interactions with Purespring Therapeutics’ investors.
Through translating their research into a more investment-ready opportunity and gaining MHRA guidance on pre-clinical plans, this collaboration supported the interactions with investors which ultimately led to the creation of Purespring Therapeutics, who have recently secured a £45 million commitment from global healthcare company Syncona, in one of the largest single investments made to a new UK university biotech company.
Through this investment, Purespring Therapeutics will continue to develop its innovative gene therapies, which could see treatment progress from lab to patients in three to four years.