London's Ori Biotech raises $9.4 million for scalable CGT manufacturing

Ori Biotech, a London and Philadelphia-based developer of Cell and Gene Therapy (CGT) manufacturing, has raised a $9.4 million seed round. Several UK venture firms participated, including Amadeus Capital Partners, Delin Ventures, Kindred Capital and a London-based family office, alongside a group of angel investors that have supported the startup since inception. Founded by Dr. Farlan Veraitch and Professor Chris Mason in 2015, the British medtech has designed a bespoke platform to specifically address the requirements of the new generation of “personalised, living medicines.” The technology addresses the clinical and commercial manufacturing needs of CGT developers, and can do so at scale. “Hundreds of clinical trials and a few recently marketed products have shown the revolutionary potential of CGTs. But this potential will never be realised unless we can remove the current bottleneck around scalable manufacturing. Ori Biotech has developed an innovative platform technology to facilitate scalable manufacturing that could eventually enable millions of patients to get access to the next generation of personalised medicines,” commented Dr. Alan Barge, ex-Head of Oncology at AstraZeneca, Venture Partner at Delin Ventures, and Non-Executive Director of Ori Biotech. Commenting on the investment, newly appointed CEO Jason C. Foster said: “The successful financing underscores the potential of the Ori platform to fully automate cell and gene therapy manufacturing to increase throughput, improve quality and decrease costs. We look forward to collaborating with best-in-class suppliers, service providers and therapeutics developers to create next generation manufacturing solutions.  We appreciate the support from our investors, and I am honored to join a company that has the potential to positively impact millions of lives by enabling patient access to these lifesaving treatments.”

The funding, which equates to about £7 million, will be used to bring the Ori manufacturing platform to market.