The Babraham Institute receives strategic funding from the BBSRC
The Babraham Institute receives strategic funding from the BBSRC
Press Releases
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
Lectures and Events
Highlight Publications
Institute Publications
Crescendo Biologics ("Crescendo"), a spin-out company from the Babraham Institute aiming to deliver innovative antibody-based therapies, today announced it has raised £4.5 million in a seed-funding round to develop its pioneering fragment antibody technology platforms.
The monoclonal antibody market, which achieved total sales of around $32bn in 2008, has grown rapidly to command around 30% of the global biologic drug market. Technologies exploiting antibody fragments, central to Crescendo’s model, are a growing focus for the industry.
The highly innovative technology underpinning the company was invented by Babraham scientists including Dr Marianne Brűggemann, a pioneer in the development of human antibody transgenics, and Dr Mike Taussig, who specialises in protein display and array systems.
Crescendo’s technology will enable the production of stable, highly optimised human antibody fragments, known as the VH domain, the smallest binding units of an antibody molecule.
Therapeutics based on VH fragments offer several advantages to the antibody therapeutic market: they can be administered topically by inhalation, injection and orally; they are easy to manufacture and stable; and have the potential to target binding sites that conventional antibodies fail to reach. Crescendo’s platform is designed to rapidly and predictably generate human antibody fragments that have high affinity and do not require further ‘humanisation’.
Derek Jones, CEO of Babraham Bioscience Technologies, which manages the commercial activities of the Babraham Institute and its Bioincubator commented, “I am delighted that some of the excellent science from the Babraham Institute is being developed by Crescendo, and further demonstrates the potential economic and social impact of our work. We will continue to work with Crescendo, which is located at the campus Bioincubator, to help to ensure Crescendo’s success. We hope that we will have further opportunities with some of our other science to translate Babraham’s world-leading academic research into commercial reality.”
The funding round was led by Sofinnova Partners, a Paris-based venture capital firm, with Aitua, Avlar BioVentures and the Rainbow Seed Fund also participating.
The original research and development underpinning Dr Brűggemann’s discoveries was supported by a Leukemia of America Special Fellowship and research charities including MRC, CRC (a forerunner of CRUK) and AFRC (the forerunner of BBSRC). The research has since received backing from the BBSRC-supported Follow-on Fund, which helps develop early ‘proof of concept’ work into a commercial proposition.
Click here for full press release issued by Crescendo
Contact details:
Dr Claire Cockcroft
Head. External Relations
Email: claire.cockcroft@babraham.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1223 496260
Fax: +44 (0)1223 496002
Mobile: +44 (0)7786 335978
The Babraham Institute
Babraham Research Campus
Cambridge CB22 3AT
United Kingdom
Notes to Editors:
The Babraham Institute is a charitable organisation devoted to biomedical research and is an institute of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). The Institute’s research is focused on understanding the biological events that underlie the normal functions of cells and on how their failure or abnormality may lead to disease. The latest technologies are being used to study the basis of conditions such as neurodegenerative disorders, birth defects, cancer and diseases of the immune and cardiovascular systems. With a strategic focus on ‘healthy ageing’, novel approaches for tackling chronic diseases and public health concerns like obesity are being discovered. The Institute’s innovative research is commercialised through Babraham Bioscience Technologies (BBT) Ltd, which also manages Babraham’s vibrant Bioincubator on the Babraham Research Campus, six miles south-east of Cambridge. Website: www.babraham.co.uk
Babraham Bioscience Technologies Ltd is the wholly-owned subsidiary and trading arm of the Babraham Institute. Coalescing scientific, technological and commercial excellence, BBT delivers the Knowledge Transfer remit of the Institute through the wider landscape of the Babraham Research Campus, catalysing opportunities for enterprise across the academic and commercial divide. BBT brings together all the elements to support innovation and enable the successful exploitation of research in the biomedical sector based on technologies emanating from the Babraham Institute and bioventures relocating to the Babraham Research Campus. Website: www.babraham.com
The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) is the UK funding agency for research in the life sciences. Sponsored by Government, BBSRC annually invests around £450 million in a wide range of research that makes a significant contribution to the quality of life for UK citizens and supports a number of important industrial stakeholders including the agriculture, food, chemical, healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors. BBSRC carries out its mission by funding internationally competitive research, providing training in the biosciences, fostering opportunities for knowledge transfer and innovation and promoting interaction with the public and other stakeholders on issues of scientific interest in universities, centres and institutes.
The Babraham Institute, Institute for Animal Health, Institute of Food Research, John Innes Centre and Rothamsted Research are Institutes of BBSRC. The Institutes conduct long-term, mission-oriented research using specialist facilities. They have strong interactions with industry, Government departments and other end-users of their research.
Babraham Institute - Babraham Research Campus - Cambridge - United Kingdom