Avigen Awarded £300K Grant to Accelerate Cell Therapy R&D Innovation
London, UK – 1 April 2025 – Avigen (“the Company”), a privately held Contract Research Organisation spun out from Imperial College London developing advanced preclinical immunotherapy R&D services using its proprietary microfluidic platform, today announced that it has been awarded a £300,000 Innovate UK Innovation-to-Commercialisation of University Research (ICURe) Exploit grant to accelerate the development of its microfluidic platform technology and the commercialisation of its associated preclinical R&D services to streamline early-stage cancer immunotherapy development.
The award follows Avigen’s successful participation in the ICURe Explore and Exploit programmes, the UK’s flagship pre-accelerator for early-stage academic ventures. The company received unanimous backing to spin out after engaging with industry leaders across biotech, pharma, and immuno-oncology worldwide.
The funding will fast-track the launch of Avigen’s first service offering: validating cancer immunotherapies by measuring the binding strength between immune and cancer cells. This crucial step helps therapy developers identify the most promising immune cell therapies, faster and more accurately in the preclinical stages. The grant also lays the foundation for expanding into more advanced contract research services, addressing a pressing need in the immunotherapy development pipeline.
This Innovate UK grant is a game-changer for Avigen. It enables us to bring our services to market, supporting faster, more cost-effective development of cancer immunotherapies. Our goal is to help companies make smarter decisions earlier, so more effective treatments can reach patients who desperately need them.
Dr Neelima KC, CTO of Avigen
Cellular immunotherapies have shown life-changing potential for patients with hard-to-treat cancers. Yet, despite their promise, 83% of lead drug candidates fail to translate successfully from in-vitro models into animals and patients. These failures are often due to poor early-stage characterisation of immune cells, leading to expensive setbacks in later testing.
Avigen’s platform provides a powerful new solution by capturing how strongly immune cells bind to cancer cells. This metric can help predict which therapies are most likely to be safe and effective in eradicating cancer, streamlining R&D and reducing late-stage attrition.
With this Innovate UK support, Avigen aims to reduce time-to-market for novel therapies, cut preclinical costs, and ultimately improve patient outcomes.
About Avigen
Avigen is a Contract Research Organisation spun out of Imperial College London developing a cutting-edge microfluidic platform to accelerate and streamline the preclinical development and translation of cellular immunotherapies. Avigen’s platform offers holistic insights into cellular interactions at unparalleled throughput, enabling a confident prediction of therapeutic potential to facilitate the rapid validation of immune cell constructs. Avigen is committed to enabling biotech and pharmaceutical companies to unlock the full potential of cellular immunotherapies and bring the next generation of cancer treatments to patients.
To learn more visit: www.avigen.bio
About Innovate UK
Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, is the UK’s innovation agency. We work to create a better future by inspiring, involving and investing in businesses developing life-changing innovations. With an annual budget of over £1billion we provide businesses with the expertise, facilities and funding they need to test, demonstrate and evolve their ideas, driving UK productivity and economic growth.
To learn more visit: www.ukri.org/councils/innovate-uk/
ICURe
Innovation-to-Commercialisation of University Research (ICURe) is the UK’s leading early-stage research accelerator programme, funded by Innovate UK. It guides academic through the process of refining and validating the commercial potential for some of the world’s leading-edge science, technology and knowledge assets.
To learn more visit: iuk-business-connect.org.uk/programme/icure/
Contacts
For more information or media enquiries contact: Tobias Gamper, CEO of Avigen Ltd at info@avigen.bio.