GeoSpock, the Cambridge extreme data technology pioneer, is set to wrap up a megabucks and transformational investment round within weeks to underpin further international expansion.

We expect GeoSpock to close the new round towards the end of July or early August at the latest. I understand that the company has new lead strategic investors and that existing backers will all continue to support the business as it scales to fresh heights globally.

The new finance has been obtained despite the handicap imposed on negotiations by the coronavirus pandemic.

I’m told GeoSpock has some exciting strategic investors lined up that are well positioned to ensure the company represents the de facto database powering telco IoT and Smart City deployments globally. 

I’m further assured that the company has some major lines of business ‘cooking’ in Asia where appetite for GeoSpock’s technology continues to grow.

As Business Weekly reported in June 2019, GeoSpock leveraged growing demand in Asia by opening operations in Tokyo and Singapore. It plans to hire 30 staff in Asia by June 2021. The company raised a fresh £10m in January 2019; Japanese investors Global Brain and 31Ventures along with data tech company KDDI Supership chipped into the round which took the total raised by GeoSpock to date to £19.5m – just under $25m – and was designed to fast-track transformational GeoSpock engagement with the massive Asian markets of Japan and Singapore.

There is no gain without some pain and GeoSpock made an unspecified number of redundancies in February with a further headcount review in progress.

However, anonymous emails from disgruntled ex-employees sent to Business Weekly claiming that half the workforce have been laid off have been described as way off the mark by inside sources.

The lay-offs are said to be more to do with the company pivoting key elements of its technology offering away from visualisation and back towards a deep-tech core-database focus.

One reliable source told me: “Being able to articulate, sell and build mission-critical digital infrastructure for running future data and IoT platforms for nations, global telcos and automotives requires very deep technical training and is unfortunately not a journey for everyone. 

“Our recent benchmarks put us firmly ahead of Google and Amazon database offerings so we’re now in the process of hardening the product to be suitable for large enterprises – which will require quite a bit of extra work, but the potential payoff is huge.”

• Photo by fabio on Unsplash

Cambridge drug discovery business Mission Therapeutics has raised $15 million in equity investment in a round led by existing backer Pfizer Ventures, the venture capital arm of Wall Street-quoted Pfizer Inc.

Perhaps more importantly looking to the long term, the companies have also expanded their relationship. 

Mission focuses on selectively inhibiting deubiquitylating enzymes (DUBs) and the partners have extended the alliance to include an evaluation and option agreement for DUB target validation.

Pfizer Ventures has been an investor in Mission Therapeutics since 2013. Today it has invested a super pro rata amount. 

All other existing investors within Mission joined the round on a pro rata basis. No further financial details have been disclosed.

The new capital will support development of Mission’s world-leading DUB platform, as well as growth of its pipeline of DUB inhibitor programmes.

DUBs have attracted significant interest as potential drug targets. Playing an integral role in protein homeostasis, this large family of enzymes is involved in diverse cellular processes and many disease pathologies.

Under the terms of the evaluation and option agreement, Pfizer will access specific DUB inhibitors from Mission’s platform and test these compounds in phenotypic screens to validate promising drug targets. Pfizer will then have the option to negotiate target exclusivity for each of the DUBs of interest. The agreement does not include any of Mission’s own lead DUB programs, such as USP30.

Dr Denis Patrick, managing partner of Pfizer Ventures and a member of Mission’s board said: “Since our initial investment in Mission seven years ago, the company has grown tremendously and the depth of its scientific expertise and capability has grown alongside it. 

“We are proud to expand our relationship with the company and our scientists are looking forward to a successful collaboration in this important area of research.”

Dr Anker Lundemose, CEO of Mission Therapeutics added: “We are pleased to expand our relationship with Pfizer, one of the world’s premier biopharmaceutical companies. 

“We have benefitted from the valuable contributions of Dr Patrick as a member of our board and look forward to working with the wider Pfizer team.”

Huawei has won planning consent for the first phase of a new optoelectronics R & D and manufacturing centre in Cambridge.

It will invest £1 billion in the first phase of the project which includes construction of 50,000 square meters of facilities across nine acres of land and will directly create around 400 local jobs.

Once fully operational, it will become the international headquarters of Huawei’s optoelectronics business. The investment is a major boost for the continued growth of Cambridge as a world-leading technology hub.

The first phase of the project will focus on the research, development, and manufacturing of optical devices and modules – an integrated model that promises to bring innovation faster to market. 

Optoelectronics is a key technology used in fibre optic communication systems and this investment aims to bring the best of such technology to data centres and network infrastructure around the world.

Victor Zhang, Vice-President of Huawei, said: “The UK is home to a vibrant and open market, as well as some of the best talent the world has to offer. 

“It’s the perfect location for this integrated innovation campus. Through close collaboration with research institutes, universities, and local industry, we want to advance optical communications technology for the industry as a whole, while doing our part to support the UK’s broader industrial strategy. Ultimately, we want to help enshrine the UK’s leading position in optoelectronics and promote UK technology on a global scale.”

Today’s approval follows over three years of work and planning. Huawei began the search for the ideal location back in 2017 and completed the acquisition of the 500-acre South Cambridgeshire site in 2018.

The company began its planning application process in early 2019. The site is located at the former Spicers paper mill and production facility located to the west of Sawston. The site includes over 50 acres of brownfield land.

Huawei employs 1,600 people in the UK and this year marks the company’s 20th year of operating in this market. Huawei supplies telecoms network equipment to all the major mobile and broadband service providers in the UK, as well as offering a range of world leading smartphones to UK consumers.

This is a remarkable coup for Cambridge considering that the UK government is considering reneging on a promise to let Huawei have a slice of the 5G implementation.

The Government OK’d Huawei’s involvement in creating the new 5G infrastructure despite opposition from the White House. Now it is threatening to renege on the undertaking after a revolt in its own ranks and renewed pressure from America.

The US fears Huawei links to the Chinese government could lead to security breaches – an accusation the company has consistently and vehemently denied.

I began writing this as we approached the June quarter day when the concerns of both commercial landlords and tenants were brought into sharp relief following the tough – or non-existent – trading circumstances this past quarter, writes Elizabeth Deyong, Property Partner at law firm Barr Ellison.

Many tenants will inevitably have much depleted cash reserves at their disposal and landlords – who may have allowed a rent postponement or waiver on the March quarter’s rent – will likely have understandable concerns about what the June quarter date (June 24) was likely to bring.

As we look to the future, tenants and their landlords will be having conversations about the benefits to each party of varying existing lease provisions.

Tenants will be looking for additional flexibility to futureproof their businesses.Landlords will be seeking a variation of lease terms which can add value and provide additional collateral for Lenders.

In the situation of a defaulting tenant, there are a number of remedies at a landlord’s disposal to take action against a defaulting Tenant – albeit that some of these have been amended by the Coronavirus Act 2020.

There will undoubtedly be circumstances where the landlord should take a tough line in order to bring to a close a relationship with a tenant that may have been going south prior to the pandemic.

However, for landlords who have the opportunity to think strategically about their individual investments or across their portfolio, then re-gearing existing leases will be an opportunity to improve relations with their tenants whose own businesses will have been suffering, and to futureproof investments going forward.

Extending lease term as a quid pro quo
For example agreeing a short suspension of rent to a tenant that is generally trading well and that is likely to bounce back once the economy is on an upward trajectory, could be agreed in exchange for an extension of the term for an additional three or five or even 10 years to the benefit of both parties to the lease.

Variation to rent payment terms
A landlord could consider varying payment terms to allow rent to be paid monthly. This is an obvious aid to the tenant’s cash flow.

Extending length of the term
Extending the length of the lease term can benefit landlords as it increases the capital value of their properties It can also be beneficial to the tenant who may have goodwill inherent in the property and require longer term security.

An extension of the term can be dealt with by way of a reversionary lease which will be based on the terms of the existing lease but may include more favourable terms or added incentives to entice the Tenant to stay longer.

Assignment and underletting
Regearing a lease presents an opportunity to look at all the existing covenants and how they might be amended to the advantage of both parties.

For example, a variation could be permitted to allow the tenant to underlet at a reduced rent, although the risk to the landlord would be that if the head lease came to an end the undertenant would be in place at that lower rent.  It is a matter of balancing the respective interests of the parties.

Similarly, a tenant who is only permitted to underlet the whole of the premises may be permitted to underlet part to allow greater flexibility for its use of the premises.

Time of crisis bringing landlords and tenants together
Times of crisis inevitably bring landlords and tenants closer together to understand their respective challenges better in a way that does not happen when the economy is running smoothly.

If landlords want to keep their premises occupied then they are going to need to have a dialogue with their tenants as to what lease provisions are no longer working and how leases may be regeared to the mutual benefit of both parties.

If you are considering lease variations, please contact the Barr Ellison Commercial Property team to talk through your proposals and how these can best be captured within a binding Variation Document that is SDLT efficient.

• For more information please contact Elizabeth Deyong – email: e.deyong [at] barrellison.co.uk

Cambridge biopharma business Kymab has won a landmark UK Supreme Court verdict that invalidates patent claims by US giant Regeneron.

It is the latest court victory for the Babraham-based antibodies powerhouse over its New York rival.

With investment totalling $220 million Kymab is using its antibody platforms to realise new opportunities in therapeutic antibodies and vaccine development.

Kymab reveals that the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom has held that all of the claims of two patents (European Patents EP(UK) 1 360 287 and EP(UK) 2 264 163, the ‘Murphy patents’) owned by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc that were asserted against Kymab are invalid.
 
The court’s decision upholds the February 2016 verdict of the High Court trial judge, Mr. Justice Henry Carr to revoke the claims and reverses the Appeal Court’s determination that they were valid. 

A five-member panel of the Supreme Court heard arguments in February and announced their decision today. It was held that the relevant claims of the Murphy patents were invalid for insufficiency because they did not enable the ordinary skilled person to work the claimed invention across the breadth of the claims, in line with established jurisprudence of the UK courts and European Patent Office. 

The Supreme Court noted that Kymab’s ability to create transgenic mice with the entire human antibody variable region depended upon Kymab’s own inventions made separately after the priority date of the Murphy patents.

Kymab CEO Simon Sturge said: “We are grateful that the Court has recognised the shortcomings of the Regeneron patents and reinforced the established law that requires that an invention is adequately enabled across its scope. 

“Kymab’s IntelliSelect® platforms continue to generate best‑in‑class, fully human monoclonal antibodies, underpinned by our extensive IP estate.”

Dr Penny Gilbert, partner at Powell Gilbert LLP, added: “This case raised fundamentally important questions of patent law relevant to a wide variety of innovative life science companies in the UK. 

“The Supreme Court has confirmed that patents should not be available for inventions that are not adequately enabled. Kymab has shown tremendous resilience in defending this case since Regeneron commenced proceedings in September 2013 and we are pleased to have helped them achieve this great result.”

The Murphy patents sought to cover genetically modified mice containing chimeric human-mouse antibody genes and the human antibodies made using such mice. 

The European Patent Office had previously upheld the patents but had not considered evidence that was available to the UK Courts. Counterparts of the Murphy patents have also been litigated by third parties in the US where an equivalent Murphy patent was found to be invalid. 

Kymab’s patent estate provides protection in the United States, Europe, Japan and other globally important commercial markets for human antibody therapeutics. 

Its patents cover human antibodies produced using transgenic platforms that employ chimeric human-mouse antibody genes. In September 2019 and January 2020, Regeneron filed requests at the US Patent Office’s PTAB (Patent Trial & Appeal Board) seeking Inter Partes Review (IPR) proceedings against 5 of Kymab’s US patents. 

The PTAB rejected all five petitions filed by Regeneron leaving each patent and their claims in full force in the US. Regeneron filed oppositions against Kymab’s Japanese patents, but these patents were upheld in unappealable decisions by the Japanese Patent Office. 

In August 2019 the Australian Patent Office (IP Australia) rejected on all grounds an opposition by Regeneron against Kymab’s patent protecting therapeutic antibodies produced from transgenic mouse platforms. Regeneron appealed to the Australian Federal Court, but in May 2020 Regeneron agreed to dis­continue its appeal and Kymab’s Australian patent is now upheld and in force.

Cambridge chip technology business UltraSoC has been acquired by Texas-headquartered Siemens Digital Industries Software.

While no sum has been officially announced for the acquisition it runs into the multimillions, Business Weekly understands.

It is understood that UltraSoC will continue in Cambridge and that CEO Rupert Baines will stay at the helm in Cambridge immediately following the sale.

UltraSoC provides instrumentation and analytics solutions that put intelligent monitoring, cybersecurity and functional safety capabilities into the core hardware of system-on-chip. 

Siemens has bought UltraSoC to drive design for silicon lifecycle management. It plans to integrate UltraSoC’s technology into the Xcelerator portfolio as part of Mentor’s Tessent™ software product suite. 

The addition of UltraSoC to Siemens enables a unified data-driven infrastructure that can enhance product quality, safety and cybersecurity, and the creation of a comprehensive solution to help semiconductor industry customers overcome key pain points including manufacturing defects, software and hardware bugs, device early-failure and wear-out, functional safety, and malicious attacks.

Brady Benware, Tessent Vice-President and General Manager, Siemens Digital Industries Software, said: “Siemens’ acquisition of UltraSoC means that for the first time our customers can access not just design-for-test, but a comprehensive ‘Design for Lifecycle Management’ solution for system-on-chips, including functional safety, security and optimisation.

“By utilising design augmentation to detect, mitigate and eliminate risks throughout the SoC lifecycle, customers can radically improve time-to-revenue, product quality & safety, and profitability. 

“UltraSoC has a fast-growing business and impressive customer list and, as part of Siemens, can complement Tessent to create a truly unique offering in the market.”

The combination of Siemens and UltraSoC technology can benefit the entire semiconductor product lifecycle, including structural, electrical, and functional capabilities of SoCs. It also supports Siemens’ comprehensive digital twin with UltraSoC providing monitoring of the real device.

UltraSOC CEO Rupert Baines added: “This acquisition accelerates UltraSoC’s vision at a much larger scale with the incredible team, assets, industry know-how and footprint of Siemens.

“Being part of one of the world’s foremost technology companies will allow UltraSoC to better serve our customers by accelerating R & D, leveraging a much larger pool of go-to-market resources, and an enormous global infrastructure.

“It has been clear since our initial meeting that UltraSoC and Siemens share a vision on how technology businesses can transform their operations end-to- end, from design conception to field deployment and we are excited to join the community.”

He added in a blog: “What a momentous day this is. After five years in the role of CEO at UltraSoC, I am proud that we have agreed to become a part of Siemen, in a move that we knew made perfect sense from the time of our first meetings. It is striking just how clearly aligned our visions are.

“The pieces of the jigsaw fit together so nicely: UltraSoC’s technology and history with its customers; where Tessent is coming from and its market-leading design-for-test offering; and the broader vision of Siemens Digital Industries. 

“The combination takes us to another level: product lifecycle management is such a significant big-picture opportunity, as is cybersecurity and the concept of the Digital Twin. 

“Tessent and UltraSoC bring the core semiconductor element to that broader story, making it perfectly balanced. Tessent brings IP into the chip to improve test and manufacturability; UltraSoC enhances the validation process and extends that into field deployment. Overall, the combination enables a truly complete design for product lifecycle offering.

“Our people are spread around the world: in Cambridge and Bristol in the UK; in the US, Poland, China and Japan. Our geographical diversity means that we’ve actually never all been in the same place at the same time!

“The fact that Siemens has recognised our value is testament to the talent, hard work and the success of the entire organisation.

“Over five years, we’ve announced some incredible customer wins that have demonstrated the traction for our technology across security applications, automotive, enterprise IT, artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML). We’ve put significant effort into developing strong industry presence through strategic partnerships.

“As is the nature of the industry and the technology companies we sell into, we are under NDA with many customers and will never be able to publicly declare many of the major names in the technology industry who trusted us and decided to use our technology in the last few years. But our thanks to all of those customers and partners who have believed in us so strongly.”

UltraSoC‘s products are widely used in the automotive, high-performance computing, storage and semiconductor industries. The company was recently selected as a participant in the DARPA AISS (Automatic Implementation of Secure Silicon) program and is a member of the Secure-CAV consortium – an ambitious collaborative project that aims to improve the safety and security of tomorrow’s connected and autonomous vehicles. 
Siemens’ acquisition of UltraSoC is due to close in the fourth quarter of Siemens’ fiscal year 2020. 

Siemens Digital Industries Software is driving transformation to enable a digital enterprise where engineering, manufacturing and electronics design meet tomorrow. 

The Xcelerator portfolio helps companies of all sizes create and leverage digital twins that provide organisations with new insights, opportunities and levels of automation to drive innovation.

US tech titan Apple is celebrating Independence Day early – and for long-term Cambridge UK partner Arm the outcome is just Yankee Doodle Dandy.

Thirty years after Apple backed a fledgling Arm to break free from Acorn it has decided to produce its own processors as the heart of its future Mac computers – and will ditch the Intel insides to base the new models on Arm architecture.

As an example of a virtuous circle the new Arm-Apple alliance takes some beating. Apple is building a new, dedicated R & D nerve centre in Cambridge which continues to be the springboard for Arm’s relentless global growth.
Apple already uses ARM designs in smartphones and mobile tablets, including the iPhone and iPad.

Apple revealed at its World Wide Developers Conference, held virtually for the first time due to the coronavirus pandemic, that the first silicon-based Mac would ship by the end of 2020 and based on Arm IP.

The full transition will probably take two years, which gives developers time to modify the relevant apps.

For Apple the benefits are many and obvious; with its proprietary Arm-based chips it will control future development of its hardware and software just as it does with the iPhone and iPad offerings.

And for users the upside is massive: nextgen Macs will be extremely powerful and ultra efficient with longer battery life and the potential for built-in mobile broadband.

Apple says the move will also enhance security and enable the company to leverage novel tech innovations like the the AI neural engine and some unparalleled graphics capability. 

Continually refined Arm graphics tech is already being used to accelerate innovation across a broad raft of industries, not least in automotive. 

Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, said: “From the beginning the Mac has always embraced big changes to stay at the forefront of personal computing. Announcing our transition to Apple silicon makes this an historic day for the Mac. 

“With its powerful features and industry-leading performance, Apple silicon will make the Mac stronger and more capable than ever. I’ve never been more excited about the future of the Mac.”

Cambridge Innovation Capital expanded its portfolio to 30 companies and increased net asset value by 46 per cent to £301.7 million in the year to March 31.

The successes included one unicorn (CMR Surgical) and CIC’s first IPO courtesy the NASDAQ float by Bicycle Therapeutics.

CIC invested £35.7m into four new and 12 existing portfolio companies, bringing the total invested to £163m. It cites a fair value increase of £69.5m (2019: £30.7m) which, together with investments, resulted in a portfolio value of £291.5m (£186.3m). CIC adds that £42.5m (£38.6m) was drawn down from the £150m committed by shareholders in the year to March 31, 2019.

CIC welcomed Riverlane, Sense Biodetection, PredictImmune and Immutrin to its family of portfolio companies – plus PetMedix post-period.

Bicycle Therapeutics conducted its NASDAQ IPO to progress its programmes, including toxin drug conjugates and immune modulators, to treat cancer and other debilitating diseases.

CMR Surgical closed a £195m Series C funding round to commercialise its next generation surgical robotic system and hit unicorn status ($1 billion valuation).

Managing partner Andrew Williamson was thrilled by CIC’s progress. He said: “Despite the recent challenges posed by the global coronavirus pandemic, we have made tremendous progress during the year.

“Our portfolio now includes one company valued in excess of £1 billion and another that has listed on NASDAQ, our first IPO. We have expanded the number of companies in, and value of, our portfolio, enhanced our potential deal flow with the creation of two accelerators and augmented our team to support the growth of the business.”

In addition to the Bicycle and CMR successes, CIC participated in a £6.5m Series A funding for AudioTelligence, which is dedicated to making speech clear and intelligible in a noisy world. 

AudioTelligence’s technology acts like autofocus for sound, using data-driven ‘blind audio signal separation’ to focus on the source of interest, allowing it to be separated from interfering noises. This enables microphones to focus on what users are saying, improving the audio quality for listeners, regardless of background noise.

CIC also backed Cytora, which closed a £25m Series B to continue developing its artificial intelligence-powered insurance technology platform that enables insurers to underwrite more accurately, reduce frictional costs and achieve profitable growth. 

CIC led a £3.3m seed round for Riverlane, a quantum computing software developer transforming the discovery of new materials and drugs. Cambridge Enterprise, the commercialisation arm of the University of Cambridge, also participated. 

Riverlane’s software leverages the capabilities of quantum computers, which operate using the principles of quantum mechanics. 

CIC co-led a £12.3m Series A in Sense Biodetection, alongside Earlybird, to allow the business to develop a portfolio of instrument-free, point-of-care molecular diagnostic tests – a pioneering new class of diagnostic product.  

During the year CIC also announced the launch of Start Codon and established DeepTech.labs – two new accelerators focused on accelerating the translation of world-class research into commercially successful companies. 

Post-period CIC invested in PetMedix, a Cambridge UK-based biopharma company developing antibody-based therapeutics for companion animals; it was CIC’s first investment in the animal health space. 

PetMedix has developed an innovative platform for the creation of naturally generated, fully species-specific therapeutic antibodies, enabling the discovery of its own veterinary medicines to target some of the most important clinical areas in animal health.

Two Cambridge companies fly the flag for the UK cluster in the first global cohort of Illumina’s genomics accelerator.

Alchemab Therapeutics and Tailor Bio are among three companies that comprise the inaugural funding cycle of Illumina Accelerator Cambridge UK.

Four more companies will join as part of the 11th funding cycle in the San Francisco Bay Area where the initiative was established and has thrived. 

The global company creation engine, focused on partnering with entrepreneurs to build breakthrough genomics startups, announced its global expansion last year.

As Business Weekly reported then, it is the first time the venture has been taken outside Illumina’s US heartland with the American genomics giant choosing its Granta Park Cambridge campus as nervecentre for the initiative’s UK bow.

Due to lockdowns and travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, Illumina Accelerator kicked off both funding cycles digitally this month, bringing all seven startup companies together for the first time.

During two, six-month funding cycles per year, Illumina Accelerator provides selected startups with access to seed investment, and Illumina sequencing systems and reagents, as well as business guidance, genomics expertise and fully operational, newly refurbished lab space adjacent to Illumina’s campuses in Cambridge UK or the San Francisco Bay Area. 

The newest companies to join Illumina Accelerator’s portfolio of genomics startups are as follows – in Cambridge:-

• Alchemab Therapeutics, an antibody therapeutics company exclusively featured in Business Weekly recently, which is harnessing the naturally protective power of patient antibodies to keep people free from hard-to-treat disease in a unique approach to drug discovery and development.
• Neurolytic Healthcare, a diagnostics company from Oxford focused on delivering digital, genomics-driven diagnostics and personalised treatment recommendations for neurological conditions.
• Tailor Bio, a Cambridge oncology diagnostics company spun out of Cancer Research UK-funded research, which is developing a proprietary precision oncology platform to identify patterns in tumour DNA to predict a patient’s response to cancer drugs.

And in the SF Bay Area:-

• AarogyaAI Innovations Pvt., a diagnostics company from India which comprehensively diagnoses drug-resistance in tuberculosis rapidly, enabling the most effective therapies for patients.
• MEDIC Life Sciences Inc., a drug discovery company in the Bay Area, which is building a pre-clinical testbed of millions of tumuor samples based on CRISPR and cancer organoids to enable personalised targeted therapies for cancer with maximised clinical success rates.
• Pluton Biosciences, LLC, a microbial testing and discovery research company in St Louis, developing eco-friendly natural products mined from unique bacteria, fungi and viruses to replace synthetic chemical applications in agriculture and pest control.
• WellSIM Biomedical Technologies, Inc., a tools company from the Bay Area, which is developing a high-throughput automated exosome processing instrument based on microfluidics allowing unparalleled isolation efficiency, purity and integrity for use in therapeutic and clinical diagnostics applications.

Amanda Cashin, co-founder and global head of Illumina Accelerator, said: “As we navigate the current global pandemic there is an even stronger urgency to create breakthrough genomics startups that will transform human health and beyond. 

“By opening our second location and partnering with seed stage capital investors, we are proud to invest in these transformative startups to push the boundaries of where genomics can go.”

Illumina Accelerator has partnered with First In Ventures to provide convertible notes for the incoming startups in the US and UK. Wing Venture Capital will continue its support in providing convertible notes in the US and Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority will support the companies in the UK. 

Paula Dowdy, Illumina’s senior vice-president and general manager, EMEA, said: “We believe the startups selected have great potential to expand the genomics ecosystem and deliver new and important applications to market.
“The UK is a leader in genomics research and we’re delighted to locate the extension of Illumina Accelerator at our new campus in Cambridge.”

Illumina Accelerator is the world’s first business accelerator focused solely on creating an innovation ecosystem for the genomics industry.

Since launching in 2014, Illumina Accelerator has invested in 45 genomics startups from across the globe, which have collectively raised approximately $400 million in venture capital funding.

Applications are being accepted for the next global funding cycle. These are due by August 1, 2020. Up to five companies will be chosen in each location. To apply, visit illumina.com/science/accelerator.html

AI VIVO, the Cambridge company combining systems pharmacology and AI to accelerate drug discovery, reveals that its platform correctly identified dexamethasone as having high potential for the treatment of COVID-19 as early as April. 

Had it been adopted earlier in the pandemic it could have saved up to 5,000 lives, the company says. Now it is set to reveal other drugs it believes could help kill coronavirus.

It says this demonstrates the ability of the platform to systematically and correctly identify candidates with the highest chance of therapeutic success.

The low-dose steroid treatment dexamethasone has been part of the world’s biggest trial testing existing therapeutics that could be repurposed to help treat COVID-19.

The drug, which is inexpensive and widely available, was shown to save the lives of seriously ill patients at a late stage of coronavirus. This is being viewed globally as a major breakthrough in the fight against the deadly virus.

On April 16, AI VIVO publicly named dexamethasone, along with four other drugs, as compounds most likely to be effective in treating COVID-19. It is believed that had dexamethasone been used to treat patients in the UK from the start of the pandemic, up to 5,000 lives could have been saved.

To identify the candidate drugs most likely to be effective in treating the disease, AI VIVO used samples from COVID-19 infected cells to build its model for the disease, which was then used to rank thousands of compounds. 

The AI VIVO prediction engine, which is powered by AI, took just 15 days to rank 90,000 compound models in order of efficacy and identified a shortlist of top candidate drugs in April.

AI VIVO’s ranking system is based on its unique phenotypic drug discovery methodology and does not rely on any prior knowledge or known information related to the disease or compounds. 

The company’s April announcement was the first output of the prediction engine and was followed by a wider list of 41 top-ranked candidates on May 7 that are currently in clinical trials for COVID-19. AI VIVO is tracking the clinical trials outcomes for these.

Dr Peyman Gifani, AI VIVO founder and CEO, said: “This is another great validation of AI VIVO’s phenotypic approach to modelling diseases and the effects of drugs. 

“We also believe there are combinations of other top-ranked drugs that with Dexamethasone will be more effective than any single drug, and we are keen to share these combinations with pharma companies and clinical trial investigators to support the fight against COVID-19. 

“We are expanding our interactions with government agencies and pharmaceutical companies to consider the top ranked drugs which have not yet been selected for trials, but have the potential to make a real difference in the fight against COVID-19.” 

Dr David Cleevely, lead investor in AI VIVO, added: “We are pleased to see that AI VIVO has once again been shown to have identified a breakthrough anti COVID-19 drug demonstrated to save lives around the world. 

“This shows the unique capability of AI VIVO’s disruptive technology and the wider applications of this approach for other disease areas.”

AI VIVO has been in contact with various clinical trial investigators including the UK’s ACCORD programme to provide insights for selecting the best drug combinations systematically. 

The advanced technology business now plans to release the names of other generic top ranked drugs that are not currently in clinical trials in order to help the fight against COVID-19. The list will be available on the AI VIVO website. 

AI VIVO has not disclosed a number of proprietary top ranked compound candidates currently in phase II or phase III clinical trials for other indications. 

It is contacting pharma companies who have developed these compounds to provide more information on why the compounds are top-ranked and how they might be used as single drugs and in combinations.