Laverock Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing disease-responsive advanced therapies through its programmable gene-control technology, announced that it has been awarded two innovation grants totaling more than £2.2 million. The non-dilutive funding will support the next generation of the company’s gene-control platform and help expand its therapeutic pipeline into areas beyond oncology.
The grants build on Laverock’s previous success in securing £1.8 million in non-dilutive funding from UK Research and Innovation through Investor Partnership, Biomedical Catalyst, and SMART business awards. The latest funding provides additional validation of the company’s differentiated technology platform and therapeutic development strategy.
Laverock’s gene-control platform has already been demonstrated across multiple therapeutic applications and cell types. These include programmed T-cell and macrophage therapies for solid tumor indications, as well as hypoimmunogenic pancreatic islet cell programs targeting Type 1 diabetes.
The first grant-funded project will focus on scaling the company’s platform within T-cell therapies. Using solid tumor patient datasets and foundational data related to intracellular signaling and antigen expression, Laverock will leverage single-cell technologies and AI-powered approaches to identify optimal combinations of product features designed to improve efficacy and safety in solid tumor cancers. The work will be tailored to specific tumor types and incorporate patient-derived models for rapid prototyping and evaluation.
The second grant will support the expansion of Laverock’s macrophage-based programs into non-oncology indications. The initiative builds on the company’s ability to program myeloid cell phenotypes and precisely control the expression of therapeutically relevant payloads. The project will be conducted as part of a consortium effort involving experts in the target disease area and across the product development process, with the goal of accelerating clinical translation.
The new funding is expected to strengthen both platform development and therapeutic pipeline expansion as Laverock advances toward clinical development of its lead programs.
KEY QUOTE:
“Success in these two highly competitive grant competitions provides further validation of our approach and will enable us to expand our efforts across platform and product development. As we push towards the clinic for our lead programme this additional funding will help unlock the true breadth of what our technology can achieve. We can’t wait to get started!”
David Venables, CEO, Laverock Therapeutics
