Tozaro, the Mercia-backed company that is a pioneer in the field of cell and gene therapy, has secured funding for an international project that could provide new treatment options for cancer patients.
The company, formerly known as MIP Discovery, is part of a UK-Canadian consortium that aims to provide greater access to life-changing cell therapies by reducing the cost of the lentiviral vectors used to produce them.
Tozaro, along with Virica Biotech of Canada and the UK’s Centre for Process Innovation, have between them secured £154,000. They will also work with the London-based molecular science company Tecrea and the National Research Council of Canada.
Lentiviral vectors are used to modify cells to create immunity to cancer and other diseases. They are derived from viruses but are fragile and difficult to produce cost-effectively at scale.
Historically viral vectors have been used to treat patient’s cells within a laboratory but increasingly they are being used ‘in vivo’ – injected directly into the patient’s body – which requires significantly greater amounts. Current manufacturing methods are not sufficient to meet the demand.
The consortium expects to significantly improve overall yield and quality and reduce manufacturing cost-per-dose. Tozaro will use its Smart Polymer platform alongside Tecrea and Virica’s technologies and once complete, the Centre for Process Innovation will carry out an independent evaluation.
Dr. Jason Slingsby MBA, CEO, Tozaro, said: “Tozaro is excited to take part in this international consortium across the UK and Canada. Jointly developing these novel reagents across the upstream and downstream processes for lentiviral vectors will enable enhanced performance, which should support wider commercial uptake of life-changing cell therapies in patients in need of new treatment options.”
Mercia, which first invested in Bedford-based Tozaro via its third party managed funds in 2015, led a £7m funding round in August 2024 to help it develop its technology.
Dr Mark Payton, CEO of Mercia, said: “The broader cell and gene therapy market is growing rapidly and its next stage of evolution is to focus on technologies that reduce the cost of production and purification. With its sophisticated and highly scalable synthetic chemistry approach, Tozaro is leading the way in the drive to bring the benefits of cell therapy to a wider audience.”
The project is supported by Innovate UK and the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program.