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Innovation community news – November
Published on 21 November 2024
Image: ©Gylden Pharma Limited. All Rights Reserved.
News and announcements from Milton Park based companies:
- Emergex changes name to Gylden Pharma
- EnSilica raises £9m in funding
- Students inspired by Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ internship
- Immunocore reports high growth in sales
- Exscientia achieves major milestone success
- Eden Research expects a 34% increase in revenue
Emergex changes name to Gylden Pharma to reflect new focus
Milton Park occupier Emergex Vaccines has announced a rebrand, changing its name to Gylden Pharma. The new name reflects the company’s broadened focus, following the integration of advanced delivery and R&D assets from its acquisition of Zosano Pharma.
Gylden Pharma aims to expand its pipeline beyond infectious disease vaccines to include a wider array of immunotherapy candidates.
Professor Thomas Rademacher, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Gylden Pharma, commented: “The name ‘Gylden’ is a reflection of the technology-driven nature of our unique nanoparticle-based platform to deliver innovative vaccines and immunotherapies.
“Our core nanotechnology enables the delivery of immunologically-relevant pathogen peptides essential to generating targeted, robust T cellular immune responses protective against emerging viral and bacterial threats.”
EnSilica raises £9m in funding
EnSilica, a leading fabless chipmaker based at Milton Park, has successfully raised £9m in funding from Lloyds Bank. The funding, facilitated by financial advisers HMT, will support the company’s continued growth and development of custom Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC) solutions for a wide range of clients, from start ups to established corporations.
Kristoff Rademan, Chief Financial Officer at EnSilica, commented: “We are delighted to have secured a new debt financing package for the business, which strengthens our underlying finances and supports our working capital commitments going forward.
Students inspired by Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Vertex Pharmaceuticals hosted a group of fifteen Oxfordshire students at its state-of-the-art Learning Lab as part of an initiative to boost diversity in the science sector.
Among the participants was Mia Ash, a sixth form student at Bicester School, who was selected for the paid internship programme. The experience has reignited her passion for learning and solidified her ambition to pursue a degree in chemistry at university.
Mia Ash, student at Bicester School Sixth Form, commented: “The experience was such a turning point for me. I went to Vertex and it’s completely brought my love back for learning.”
Immunocore reports impressive sales growth for flagship product, Kimmtrak
The company’s latest financial results show net product sales of £62.6m for Q3 and £172.3m for the first nine months of 2024. This represents a 28% and 32% increase, respectively, compared to the same periods last year.
Kimmtrak, a medication used to treat uveal melanoma (a rare type of eye cancer), remains the standard of care in most of the 21 countries where it has been launched.
Bahija Jallal, Chief Executive Officer of Immunocore, commented: “We are proud to report another strong quarter, marking two years of continuous growth for Kimmtrak and another quarter of positive net income.”
Exscientia achieves major milestone success
Exscientia has made significant progress in its partnership with pharmaceutical giant Sanofi, advancing two additional discovery programmes. The achievement has secured Exscientia £11.8m in milestone payments.
Looking ahead, the company could earn over £471m in pre-commercial and commercial milestone payments, along with tiered royalties on eventual product sales.
David Hallett PhD, interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Scientific Officer at Exscientia, commented: “We are excited to announce the advancement of these programmes. This is testament to our consistent ability to design compounds that solve complex problems.
“We look forward to continuing to work with Sanofi to advance these programmes towards development and ultimately working together to bring potential new treatment options to patients with significant unmet needs.”
Eden Research expects a 34% increase in revenue
Milton Park-based biopesticide developer Eden Research has forecast a 34% increase in revenue for 2024, projecting a total of approximately £4.3m. This growth is primarily driven by a 42% rise in product sales, reaching £3.7m, as the firm capitalises on its strategic investments made over the past five years.
Sean Smith, CEO at Eden Research, commented: “While we are confident in our regulatory strategy and satisfied with the progress we have made to date, the regulatory hurdles in the agrochemicals market are ever increasing, even for sustainable products like Eden’s.
“These hurdles result in lengthening of our time-to-market, but we must remember that the industry, as a whole, faces the same challenges and Eden is well-equipped to benefit substantially in the coming years from the changing landscape.”
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