Face masks made by a Cambridge company and based on military-standard technology have triggered a massive ramp-up in production worldwide as customers cumulatively try to order millions of them to counter the threat of the coronavirus.

Christopher Dobbing, founder and CEO of Cambridge Mask Co. tells Business Weekly that the company has been deluged by “an unprecedented and overwhelming flood of demand.”

He says the company is ramping production in China and Indonesia to try to meet some of the demand but says it will be impossible to fulfil some orders which scale as high as 10 million in one case.

Dobbing says: “Our masks use a special technology developed by the British military for chemical, nuclear and biological warfare protection and are tested to filter an average 99.6 per cent of viruses. That makes them perfect for coronavirus protection.

“Our small team is coping with 1,100 messages per day from customers wanting masks and we have 20,000 daily website visitors and 200+ calls to our office.

“Everything is 20-30x what would be normal for us. We are ramping up production at our factories in China and Indonesia to try and meet some of the demand. 

“I have had requests for 500,000, three million and even 10 million masks – which we could never dream of filling. That’s over 100 x 40 ft containers worth! 

“We are taking pre-orders on our website for delivery mid-March and have nearly 4,500 orders received and in production.”

Cambridge companies are heavily embroiled in coronavirus initiatives. The epidemic has prompted organisers of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona near the end of February to reassure prospective Cambridge and other UK and global attendees that they will be protected by additional medical staff on the spot and enhanced sanitisation controls to protect them from contracting the potentially fatal coronavirus.

MWC organiser GSMA is working to World Health Organisation guidelines and has announced increased cleaning and disinfection programme across all high-volume touchpoints, e.g. catering areas, surfaces, handrails, WCs, entrances/exits, public touch-screens, etc. along with the use of correct cleaning/sanitising materials and products. They are also liaising with local hotels, shops and eateries to ensure high cleanliness and disinfectant standards are maintained throughout the city.

MWC is the premier showcase for many UK technology companies and Cambridge is traditionally represented in high numbers.

Cambridge BioMedtech businesses are already in the front line of the battle against the virus. As Business Weekly flagged up on January 30, Novacyt has already launched a novel research-only coronavirus test developed by its molecular diagnostics division, Primerdesign as a direct response to the recent outbreak of the respiratory virus in China.

The Primerdesign coronavirus test has the ability to detect only the 2019 strain of the virus, which the company believes differentiates it from other current tests which are less specific and may also react to other related species giving rise to a false diagnosis. 

The Primerdesign test is also said to be stable at ambient temperatures, which eliminates the need for cold chain shipping in tropical climates and therefore improves the efficiency of the test and reduces transport costs.

Graham Mullis, CEO of Novacyt said. “Over the last few days, we have seen significant early demand for our genesig® 2019-nCoV test from over 10 countries.”

Cambridge startup ET-traps Ltd believes its technology could also prove valuable in fighting the outbreak. 

Founder and CEO Dr Arjun Jain tells Business Weekly: “The US NIH has suggested that a vaccine might be available for testing in humans in about three months, which represents an unprecedented speed of development. This has been enabled by technology for rapid genetic analysis of the virus, and prompt action by governments to begin a vaccine development programme.

“The therapeutic tool we are working on may be used as a treatment for the virus. We have produced two papers to support our view: The first discusses how interferon levels are increased in people infected with the virus.The second discusses how interferon is an inducer of endothelin(ET)-1. Hence, the ET-traps which have been shown to potently sequester ET-1 levels would serve as a potential therapeutic.

“This and the potential use of ET-traps for HIV-AIDS has been discussed in a recent paper we are writing. The race is on to make a therapeutic for this virus and we think our the ET-traps may be used.”

The technology focuses on sequestering pathologically elevated levels of Endothelin-1 in different diseases.

The company is developing a therapeutic targeting elevated endothelin-1 levels that may be used in different cancers, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and pregnancy disorders.

How worried should we be by the coronavirus epidemic? Very, according to Dr Nigel Whittle, head of Medical & Healthcare at Cambridge tech consultancy Plextek.

He said: “Scientists at Imperial College recently estimated that about 100,000 people around the world may already be infected with the new coronavirus and that each infected patient can infect on average 2.6 others – about the same rate as in annual influenza outbreaks. 

“Worryingly there is concern that the coronavirus can be passed on during the disease’s incubation period, which means that someone who is ill but not yet displaying any symptoms could transmit the infection. 

“A current count of more than 100 deaths out of 6,000 reported cases implies a 1.7 per cent mortality rate, compared with seasonal influenza (which causes about 400,000 deaths each year globally) with a mortality rate well below 1 per cent.  

“One of the first lines of defence is monitoring airline passengers flying in from areas where the virus is active, often using thermal imaging cameras to detect fever, in an attempt to identify people who have symptoms. 

“The problem is that only those who are already ill will be picked up, although it is thought that the incubation period is days, rather than weeks. 

“More draconian measures such as those instigated by China to effectively quarantine tens of millions of people may help to slow the progress of the disease but may not be enough to stop the virus spreading.

“Will surgical masks slow the spread? One of the defining images of large respiratory disease outbreaks is people wearing surgical masks in the street, and this one is no different, most notably in China where they are also worn to protect against pollution. 

“Many other cities in Asia are already reporting masks flying from the shelves leading to shortages in the shops. But do these masks offer any protection for the wearer? 

“The coronavirus is spread by droplets in the air produced when an infected individual coughs or sneezes, but it is also spread by touching a contaminated surface and then touching your mouth, nose, or eyes.

“This means that it is more likely for a person to become infected if they in close continuous contact with someone who is infected rather than a casual interaction on the street. 

“In reality, the thin material in masks does little to stop respiratory viruses spreading, and masks have to be worn correctly, changed frequently and disposed of safely in order to work properly. There is however some limited evidence that suggests masks can help prevent hand-to-mouth transmissions.

“As this is a viral disease, antibiotics are not an effective treatment and standard anti-viral drugs used against influenza will not work. So far, recovery has been very dependent on the strength of patients’ immune system, and many of those who died are known to have suffered from poor health. 

“Unlike influenza, there is no currently available vaccine, which means it is more difficult to protect vulnerable members of the population. Much like SARS in 2003, the current coronavirus outbreak has caught local and global health systems by surprise, but it remains to be seen what the final impact of the epidemic will be on the world’s population.”

• Photographs courtesy of Plextek

Former Brexit Secretary David Davis has made an impassioned plea to the Home Secretary to ensure Cambridge entrepreneur and former Autonomy boss Dr Mike Lynch is not extradited to the US to face trial on wire fraud allegations by Hewlett Packard and risk an appalling ordeal.

In a bitter attack in Parliament on America’s interpretation of justice, Davis urged Priti Patel not to allow the extradition the US is seeking until the UK courts have made a decision in the action between the parties in Britain that has been conducted in the last year.

HP is alleging that Autonomy chiefs effectively cooked the books ahead of an $11.7 billion sale to the American giant in 21011. Dr Lynch and senior management colleagues say HP knew what they had bought and cocked up the integration of the Cambridge software business into its hardware dominated empire.

Davis said Britain risked being suckered into a serious miscarriage of justice if it allowed America to get its hands on Dr Lynch. He said: “Since we agreed the UK-US Extradition Treaty in 2003, it has been abundantly clear that the British government of the day struck a truly dreadful deal. Asymmetric, sometimes ineffective, and sometimes unfair on British citizens.

“Countless examples down the years have shown this. From the NatWest Three to Christopher Tappin, from Gary McKinnon to Anne Sacoolas, the person charged with causing death by dangerous driving for the death of Harry Dunn.

“We now risk yet another serious miscarriage of justice with the US extradition request for Dr Mike Lynch – a successful and entrepreneurial British businessman.
“After a lengthy and costly civil UK trial, Dr Lynch is now awaiting judgement. I am prevented from commenting further on that case due to subjudice rules – although this is a trial by judge alone, not by jury, so the possibility of undue influence is near zero.

“But Dr Lynch is now facing almost identical criminal charges in the US in yet another aggressive attempt by American authorities to exercise extraterritorial jurisdiction. 

“Despite the Serious Fraud Office deciding there was no basis for a prosecution in the UK, US authorities are now doggedly pursuing his extradition.

“Civil cases are decided on the balance of probabilities, a much lower hurdle than criminal cases, which have to be decided beyond reasonable doubt. 

“So if Hewlett Packard fail to win their civil trial against Dr Lynch here in the UK – based on a much lower standard of proof than the criminal test – then it is inconceivable that the US authorities would win a near identical criminal case if it was fairly tried. Accordingly, the case for extradition would evaporate.

“So the only sensible course of action available to the Home Secretary is to delay the extradition until the UK Judge has made his decision. This case is important because it is characteristic of the way the American judicial system operates to favour American businesses.

“The US has a history of using its broad extradition treaties to cast a wide legal net around the world. As with Mike Lynch, many of these cases are only tenuously linked to the United States.

“They all have common themes. They are all British citizens; the alleged crimes all took place on British soil; the UK system failed to protect them; and the US authorities ultimately got their way.

“Since 2003, 80 per cent of UK extraditions to the US were for non-violent crimes. This seems like strange behaviour for a country that convicted no CEOs for crimes during the financial crisis.

“Dr Lynch is being charged with several counts of wire fraud – an offence originally designed to make a state crime into a federal crime so they could be prosecuted by Federal authorities.

“Its application quickly expanded, prompting one Federal Judge to say they have ‘been invoked to impose criminal penalties upon a staggeringly broad swathe of behaviour‘.

“Now, that staggeringly broad swathe is being applied across national borders. In essence, a legal playbook designed to catch and convict mobsters and racketeers has first been repurposed to catch white collar offenders, and now that repurposing has been extended outside American borders into what should be other countries’ jurisdictions.”

Davis added: “If Dr Lynch is unfortunate enough to be extradited and either denied bail or found guilty, he will face appalling conditions – conditions that are much worse than anything found in the UK. He will likely find himself in a high-security prison in a cramped cell with gang members, drug dealers or murderers.

“The US imprisons a higher percentage of its citizens than any other country in the world. There are many reasons for this, but no doubt the ferocious use of plea bargains is a major factor.

“Once charges have been brought and after Dr Lynch has spent months in appalling conditions, prosecutors will almost certainly try to convince him to admit guilt to a lesser charge. 

“They will promise a shorter sentence, some of which could be served in the UK, and they will remind him of the huge financial cost of a protracted and complex trial.

“If he refuses, he will face the prospect of a lengthy sentence and the costs of the trial could run into the millions. The rules are set up for him to fail. He will be told he must run his defence from his own prison cell where he can only have one ream of paper at a time.

“To put this in perspective, Dr Lynch’s civil trial in the UK has so far cost £40 million, involved over 11 million documents. The opening arguments were 1,067 pages long and the closing arguments were 4,494 pages.

“One can easily see how someone in Dr Lynch’s position would be coerced into giving in and admitting guilt. I would not call that a plea bargain. I would call it blackmail. This is nothing like normal British justice. It effectively turns the presumption of innocence into a presumption of guilt.

“Mike Lynch could be arrested any day now and sent to the United States to go through this appalling ordeal. But I hope not. I hope the Home Secretary will use every legal mechanism available to delay this extradition until the judge has made his decision in the civil trial.

“We need to give British citizens, businessmen and entrepreneurs the protection, certainty and the justice that they deserve.”

A spokesman for Dr Lynch said he had no comment to make on either David Davis’s intervention or attempts to extradite him.

Mogrify, a transformative cell therapy company based in Cambridge, has clinched $1.1 million additional funding to accelerate assessment of regenerative cartilage therapy.

Cartilage defects, osteoarthritis and other musculoskeletal conditions are among the first medical areas being addressed by Mogrify’s revolutionary technology.

SBRI Healthcare, the NHS England-funded initiative championed by the Academic Health Science Network, ploughed Phase 1 cash into Mogrify in April 2019 to start the ball rolling and has now followed through with the Phase II $1.1m. If the therapy is validated, Mogrify plans to enter clinical trials.

The Mogrify platform takes a systematic big-data approach to identify, from next-generation sequencing and gene-regulatory networks, the conversion factors needed to produce cells that exhibit safety, efficacy and scalable manufacturing profiles suitable for development as regenerative cell therapies. 

The funding from SBRI will be used to progress key cell conversions through pre-clinical safety and efficacy studies in vivo.

Dr Karin Schmitt, Mogrify’s chief business officer, said: “We select projects strategically based on both commercial and scientific considerations and are delighted with the progress of this collaboration with Dr Wael Kafienah’s laboratory at the University of Bristol. 

“The continued support for our lead musculoskeletal asset from SBRI Healthcare has not only allowed us to reach this phase but will enable us to carry the chondrocyte conversions through to the next stage.”

Pierre-Louis Joffrin, corporate development executive at Mogrify, added: “Osteoarthritis is the most common joint disorder and with current treatments focused only on addressing the symptoms there is a huge unmet medical need. 

“Through this additional funding from the NHS England initiative we will be able to take the project through the efficacy and safety studies necessary to see it make a difference to patients as we now start planning for the clinical stages of the development.”

The co-founder and co-director of a world-class University of Essex lab is pioneering Brain-Computer Interfaces for the UK and US governments in two large projects worth $16.5 million. 

The projects spearheaded by Professor Riccardo Poli are co-funded by the US Department of Defense and have far-reaching potential in several key areas.

Prof. Poli tells Business Weekly that applications of the technologies could range from improved medical diagnosis to better crisis management – for example by increasing the situation awareness of teams – to superior financial decision making, the evaluation of threats “and any form of decision making where there is no simple answer.”

Prof. Poli has been highly successful at developing BCIs to improve decision making and has received major funding from the Ministry of Defence since 2013.

He says: “The work we are doing on assisting group decision making with or without the assistance of AIs – something we call cognitive augmentation – are essentially clever ways of making meaningful decisions when a situation is too complex for any single person or machine to be able to evaluate it fully. 

“It is the good old ‘wisdom of crowds’ made better. Essentially, it is better because we don’t just make use of the votes/decisions of each individual decision maker but also we tap into an extra source of information – their confidence (which is finer grain than the decision itself) and it is the mechanism invented by nature with which we evaluate the quality of our behaviours. A key step to integrate AIs in this form of decision making was to derive an equivalent ‘confidence’ for the AIs.”

The Brain-Computer Interfaces and Neural Engineering (BCI-NE) laboratory has moved to a new, bigger home in the School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering. It is acknowledged as the largest and best equipped of its type in the country and one of the largest in Europe.

The new lab has state-of-the-art equipment and a wide range of facilities including three soundproofed Faraday cages (which reduce electromagnetic and ambient noise during experimentation), top-of-the-range brain activity recording devices including electroencephalography (EEG) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy, brain stimulation devices, a sophisticated robotic positioning system and virtual reality systems.

The facilities provide a valuable new resource for UoE academics who are working in this growing area of research in neural engineering technologies for both disabled and able-bodied people. 

Today there are not only a wide range of neuro technologies being trialled that improve communication, decision-making, motor control, memory, attention, learning and problem solving but also large-scale initiatives seeking practical exploitation of such technologies.

The lab will also act as a hub for the new BEng Neural Engineering with Psychology, which will have its first intake of students this October.

Prof. Poli said: “We are extremely grateful for the support the School and the University have given the BCI-NE group over the years since its inception 15 years ago. The group has been able to grow and attract talent very successfully over this period.”

Professor Reinhold Scherer, fellow co-director of the laboratory, is world leader in BCI research with extensive experience in developing applications to improve the quality of life for individuals with cognitive and motor disabilities, including those affected by stroke, cerebral palsy and other neurological disorders. 

He added: “With the new lab up and running we can now start a new era in BCI-NE research at Essex.

“We are fortunate to have many talented lab members, committed and inquiring students, and an engaging interdisciplinary university environment. This enables us to think ‘outside the box’ and ask the right research questions. Coupled with the ability to provide researchers access to state-of-the-art facilities, we aim to take on a leading position in the research community.”

Cambridge serial entrepreneur Goncalo de Vasconcelos is poised to raise crowdfunding cash for a new UK business venture – an InsurTech startup that is being incubated in stealth.

But he won’t be using SyndicateRoom, the equity crowdfund that he started in Cambridge. 

He left SR to launch and cradle his new baby’ – Rnwl – but remains on the SyndicateRoom board so says there is a clear and insurmountable conflict of interest. So it would appear to be a straight choice between Crowdcube or Seedrs. de Vasconcelos declines to say how much he is looking to raise to roll out Rnwl.

He is still nailing down the future roadmap for the venture but has no doubts about the need for such a technology play in the insurance renewal sector.

Rnwl’s mission is to remove the hassle of managing insurances and forever change how people interact with their insurers and product offerings. 

Initially it will start by taking the hassle of the auto-renewal by analysing the market for deals on an ongoing basis.

Goncalo says: “For too long loyal customers have been overpaying on their insurances. The systems are designed in such a way that it’s cumbersome and a real hassle to shop around. Rnwl will make this process insanely simple.”

He said the choice to crowd-fund was “a no brainer” because “Rnwl’s potential customers are people like you and me. The amount of value from having 1,000 or more small investors that become Rnwl’s biggest fans and advocates cannot be overstated. 

“They will gain early access to Rnwl and we look forward to getting their feedback and input. We are building Rnwl for them. As such, crowdfunding is the perfect route for funding.”

The company is now facing a tough choice – which crowdfunding platform to use – Crowdcube or Seedrs? 

Goncalo says: “We honestly haven’t made a decision yet. We spoke to both and we’ll be making a decision soon but it’s not as simple as it may seem. 

“Both platforms are excellent for marketing exposure. In the past I’ve been very vocal about the need for investor protections, which is why all investors in Rnwl, large or small, will get the same class of shares with the same rights.

A new £440 million UK-China venture capital fund started and steered from Cambridge by entrepreneur Dr Simon Haworth is ready to start investing.

Dr Haworth emphasised the key role The Sino-UK fund could play in promoting two-way BioMedTech ventures when he met Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at a symposium in Beijing. The Sino-UK Fund is a small, closed-ended VC fund being set up by Dr Haworth with Chinese capital. The RMB 400m venture (approx. £440m) has support from government funds in Wuhan, Hubei Province, providing 30 per cent of capital, and from strategic investors in Wuhan, Chengdu, Shanghai and other Chinese centres. 

To date the fund has secured support for just over 80 per cent of the total capital required so can start investing. The fund is regulated in Shanghai and focuses on UK and China biotech and medtech technologies to optimise their access to the fast-growing Chinese market. Dr Haworth wants to engage with UK companies in these sectors keen to take advantage of the massive opportunity that China presents.

Dr Haworth was invited by the Chinese Ministry of Science & Technology to join 12 fellow foreign experts at the Beijing symposium, held at the Great Hall of the People in Tian ‘an men Square. 

Dr Haworth presented the Premier with a copy of Cambridge Notes – a book describing his family’s long engagement with China over six continuous generations and spanning 145 years from 1875 to date.

He took the opportunity to stress to the Premier the opportunities presented by the new fund Dr Haworth is establishing to bring UK technologies to the China market. The Symposium was followed by a dinner with Premier Li, celebrating the start of the Chinese New Year period. 
Dr Haworth said: “I updated Premier Li on progress with our fund – a topic we discussed at our first meeting in 2017 – and introduced Cambridge Notes and the details of our family history.

“I explained that Cambridge Notes shows firstly that engagement between China and the UK is nothing new and, more importantly, that cross-cultural engagement is driven more by human connections and relationships than by motives related to wealth, technology or government objectives. 

“If we want to increase engagement to and from China then we need first to tackle the emotional barriers that cloud our judgement.”

Dr Haworth believes it is time for China to take the global trade lead from the US. He explains: “I believe it is China’s turn to grasp the baton of international leadership, wrestling that title away from the United States. 

“Such a thought is uncomfortable to many but I believe that we should think constructively about how best to engage with a new, stronger China to best effect for Britain and that we should be proactive about achieving our own objectives. 

“We British were not timid when it came to growing the British Empire and we should not be surprised if China is aggressive now. What we must not do is hold back.”   

Dr Haworth realises the challenges of helping to promote a new order and the new fund is geared up to hand-hold UK businesses that join the effort.
He said: “China represents the greatest challenge of my career but it also provides the greatest stimulation and fun that I have every experienced. I can’t imagine a better combination for my job than that. 

“Lessons learned during my own period of investigation in China include the fact that who you know really matters in this market. We are taking four more delegations of UK companies to Wuhan this year, covering all costs once in China, and sharing our networks with attendees. 

“We will curate the visits and pre-arrange meetings with relevant Chinese parties to suit the needs of each company and the UK attendees will just have to pay the cost of their return flight from Heathrow direct to Wuhan. 
We do get rewarded for bringing delegations to China but our main purpose is driven by the fact that our capital is based in China, for China-based application. In other words, we can’t easily bring the investment capital to the UK but instead apply it to development of products and access to market in China. 

“We invite any Cambridge company interested in China development to join one of our upcoming visits.” 

Since coming to Cambridge in the late 1980s, Dr Haworth has founded a series of service and technology companies – including IPSO Ventures, listed on AIM in 2007. He left IPSO in 2010 in order to investigate international markets and sources of capital and in 2012 began engaging with China.

His first engagement with China has been a success: Artificial Intelligence company Intelligent OMICS is developing diagnostic devices in Wuhan as well as an AI platform for drug discovery in the UK – but it has not all been easy. 
He in-licensed pre-IND drug products from a Cambridge biotechnology company in 2012 and sought to develop the products in China with the help of a Chinese CRO. 

Whilst the UK company was able to establish a subsidiary in China and raise non-dilutive funding for the product development work, the CRO proved to be unable to undertake the necessary work.
“It soon became evident that remote management of a challenging drug development project was beyond my capabilities at that time,” reflects Dr Haworth. “I ended up losing the in-licensed products and shutting the company. 

“Many lessons were learned from this painful experience – particularly about what is required to manage remotely – as well as the basic knowledge required to set up a company in China, set up a bank account, raise grant funding and so on. It was a tough way to learn a lot, but the personal experience is invaluable now.

“The Chinese market is vast. China is at last investing in research not just products. IP is now protected. Capital and licensing returns can be brought back to the UK so what are you waiting for? Surely it is time for Cambridge companies to lead the way.”

• To get involved in this exciting trade push, email Dr Haworth as follows:  simon.haworth [at] dynastybio.com

Digitalisation is having an increased impact on the tax and finance team – tax authorities around the world are using sophisticated digital platforms that require businesses to submit tax data in real time, increasing the importance of ensuring that accurate tax information exists in the business at the right time, writes Stuart Wilkinson,  office managing partner and head of tax at EY in Cambridge.

It also creates opportunity as it has the potential to make systems more effective, increase standardisation and improve data quality, whether you are a small to medium sized enterprise, owner managed business, or a global company. 

Back in 2017, HMRC announced ‘Making Tax Digital’ (‘MTD’) with an initial focus on VAT – it attracted widespread interest, and indeed some negativity in the early stages, with many businesses viewing its implementation and the changes it would bring to transforming tax administration as problematic in the short term, given its proposed implementation timetable. 

Responding to feedback, HMRC gave businesses with complex or legacy IT systems the opportunity to apply for additional time to put the required digital links in place, but only if they meet certain qualifying criteria (otherwise the deadline is April 2020).

It’s clear that MTD is here to stay, although the Government did announce in the Spring Statement 2019, that MTD will not be introduced for any new taxes, with the exception of VAT, until the system has been shown to work, and that they will consult on corporation tax before making any decision on whether to bring in MTD for further taxes.  

Putting aside the specifics of MTD for a few minutes, what does digital mean for the future of the tax team?  For both tax authorities and tax teams, technology disruption and the digital economy have created significant complexity and change. Now, more than ever, the tax team needs to be better connected to how the business makes its money and supplies its goods.

Previously, tax advisers only needed to know how to interpret and apply tax rules. Now the tax team must act as a business adviser, technologist, systems expert and still know how to apply the tax rules! 

As a result, we need to attract people into our tax teams that have a wider and different skill set than before. We need coders, software developers, implementors of new technology and people that can create new processes, tools and systems to future proof our own business against digital transformation – many businesses are now recruiting tax technology managers who are busy writing their own role descriptions.

Technology will undoubtedly improve and eventually overtake the process part of our business: there will be less need for human intervention in certain aspects of what the tax team does today. 

But we should not be afraid of embracing this change, as it should give us more time to understand the business, to build better relationships with our customers and clients so we can really add value by bringing better tax insights. 

We also have to manage the transitions as we move from current ways of working and training to new ways as technology develops.

We should remind ourselves that our greatest asset will always be our people, yet technology offers us a fantastic opportunity to support our talent to learn new skills, embrace new opportunities, and, as a result, have much better experiences during a career in tax. 

Avacta Group plc in Cambridge, which develops Affimer® biotherapeutics and reagents, is racking up record revenue figures, according to a trading update for the 17 months to December 31.

Revenues for the period, which include the initial milestone payment from LG Chem, have grown 100 per cent to £5.5 million from £2.76m (12 months ended July 31, 2018) and are ahead of market expectations. 

Revenues from the Affimer® diagnostics business have grown by 130 per cent as more customer evaluations of the Affimer® platform are underway. The group’s order intake and sales pipeline into 2020 are the strongest to date.

Avacta says revenues this year will benefit from the expanded LG Chem partnership, a new collaboration established with ADC Therapeutics and the recently announced joint venture with Daewoong Pharmaceuticals – each of which will fully fund Avacta’s related R & D activities.   

The cash position at December 31 was £8.7m (31 July 2018: £5.2m), also ahead of market forecasts, following completion of the placing in November 2019.

The group is focusing its resources on its partnered programmes and on taking its first pre|CISION pro-drug, AVA6000, into the clinic in the second half of 2020.

Chief executive Dr Alastair Smith, said: “We are delighted with the significant commercial and operational progress that has been made during the period, expanding our therapeutic development partnership with LG Chem and adding new collaborations with ADC Therapeutics and with Daewoong. 

“Our diagnostics business has continued to gain traction and is poised for continued growth in 2020 which should ultimately lead to license revenues.

“We are also due to take our first drug AVA6000, a re-engineered form of the chemotherapy Doxorubicin, into the clinic in the middle of 2020, making it a ground-breaking year for the group. 

“AVA6000 has been modified with Avacta’s pre|CISION technology to reduce the side effects without affecting the efficacy of this effective cancer treatment. 

“The initial readout, which aims to show that the side effects of this chemotherapy have been reduced, are expected before the end of the year which represents a major value inflection point for Avacta and a significant commercial opportunity.”

Avacta recently announced the appointment of Paul Fry as non-executive director with effect from February 3. Fry has extensive financial experience across a number of industries including biotechnology, pharmaceutical and telecommunications.

He is currently chief financial officer of Vectura Group plc, an industry leading inhaled drug delivery specialist listed on the FTSE Main Market. 

Prior to his current position, he was chief financial officer of Immunocore Limited, a biotech company focused on the development of a new class of immunotherapeutic drugs based on proprietary T-cell receptor technology. 
 
He has also served as director of global finance operations at Vodafone plc and spent more than 25 years at GlaxoSmithKline where he held a number of senior roles.

Fry will be appointed chair of the Audit Committee.

Cambridge industrial behemoth Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group has ditched IWM Duxford from a shortlist of three potential new UK locations.

It leaves a straight choice between Cranfield and RAF Wyton in St Ives for a new HQ – and the Bedfordshire site would appear to be vastly superior, in terms of facilities and required investment spend. A decision will be taken as soon as possible this year.

The only signifiant factor Wyton would appear to have in its favour is that so many of Marshall ADG’s 1500 staff live in north Cambridgeshire so travel to work tyreprint would be reduced if Marshall cold-shouldered Cranfield, which is around 38 miles away. But Wyton has already been deemed inadequate once before – back in April 2010.

IWM Duxford was named as a potential relocation option for the business when it announced its intention to move out of Cambridge by 2030. But after uncovering a number of insurmountable issues, both Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group and Imperial War Museums have now reluctantly agreed IWM Duxford is no longer a feasible option.

Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group CEO, Alistair McPhee, said: “We had identified an area of land at IWM Duxford situated to the far South-West of the existing airfield that did not impact areas of historical interest or require complex infrastructure upgrades.

“Initially this appeared to be an ideal location, giving us more than enough space to accommodate existing and future requirements, however as we progressed our due diligence we hit a very significant challenge in terms of the need for reclassification of airspace that would have made any sort of aerobatics from the airfield virtually impossible.

“As part of our operational discussions with IWM and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) it became apparent that the airspace above our buildings would need to be classified as a no-fly zone. 

“This, along with the existing restrictions over Duxford village, would massively restrict the ability for historic aircraft to take off safely for air display and we said at the outset that we would not engage in a plan that in any way compromised the historical integrity of the site.

“In partnership with IWM we have worked very hard to find a way around this challenge by either re-routing the take-off, flight path and landing of aircraft participating in displays but unfortunately none of these options have proved feasible.

“We’ve also looked at alternative locations within the existing IWM campus but again have not been able to find a viable option and therefore, very reluctantly, both parties have now agreed that all possible avenues have been explored.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the team from IWM and members of local government for all of the support and hard work they have put into this project and I know they are as disappointed as we are that we could not find a way to make it work.”

Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group remains confident it will be in a position to confirm its preferred option during 2020 as planned.

Vacating the Newmarket Road, Cambridge site will provide space for 12,000 homes and 5 million sq ft of business and commercial space, creating a large number of new jobs as well as crucial residential and commercial capacity for Cambridge.