Scripta Therapeutics, an Oxford-based techbio startup developing disease-modifying drugs that alter transcription factor activity, has emerged from stealth with the announcement of a $12 million seed round. The financing is co-led by Oxford Science Enterprises and Apollo Health Ventures, with additional participation from AlbionVC, YZR Capital, Parkwalk Advisors, and support from Oxford University Innovation.
The company is building a platform designed to reprogram biology by targeting the transcriptional networks that drive disease, positioning transcription factors as the next major frontier in therapeutic development.
The company’s biology-first approach integrates experimental biology, advanced imaging, unique patient-derived models, and AI-driven analysis to build and modulate detailed disease maps. By decoding transcriptional programs and identifying their functional levers, Scripta aims to discover therapeutics that can restore healthy cell states rather than merely slowing disease progression. The platform is applicable across a broad range of conditions, but Scripta’s initial focus is on Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders in collaboration with scientific co-founder Noel Buckley, Professor of Neurobiology at the University of Oxford.
The financing round also brings additional leadership expertise to the company through the appointment of experienced biotech executive Ray Barlow, CEO of SynOx Therapeutics, who joins Scripta’s board as a Non-Executive Director. Investors emphasized the strength of Scripta’s scientific foundation, its AI-enabled discovery engine, and its potential to meaningfully accelerate the development of treatments in areas long considered biologically complex or intractable.
Scripta Therapeutics describes its mission as delivering transformative therapeutics by modulating the activity of transcription factors to halt or even reverse the progression of disease. The company aims to combine deep domain knowledge in pharma, biotech, and disease biology with computational capabilities to shift the paradigm of target based drug discovery toward a more integrated and dynamic understanding of gene regulation.
KEY QUOTES
“We’re flipping the script on conventional target-based drug discovery to find therapies that genuinely move the needle for patients. By focusing on understanding and manipulating the master controllers of biology, we’re searching for drugs with the potential not just to delay disease progression but to stop it in its tracks.”
Peter Hamley, Founder And CEO, Scripta Therapeutics
“Scripta brings fresh thinking and a novel biology-led, data-rich approach to a traditionally challenging area of drug discovery. I am looking forward to working with this outstanding team to deliver effective new medicines that are long overdue for so many patients.”
Ray Barlow, Non-Executive Director, Scripta Therapeutics
“We’re proud to be backing Scripta – a brilliant team that exemplifies the next generation of technology-enabled drug discovery and capitalises on the strength of the University of Oxford and the wider Oxford ecosystem.”
Claire Brown, Partner at OSE and Board Member of Scripta
“Manipulating transcription factors in disease has long been seen as an intractable challenge, yet it holds tremendous promise for treating neurodegeneration and other life-limiting conditions. Scripta’s innovative approach could deliver transformational therapies and exemplifies one of Apollo’s key investment strategies: reprogramming diseased cells into healthy ones to tackle the root causes of age-related diseases and enable disease-modifying treatments.”
Marianne Mertens, Partner at Apollo Health Ventures
