Team Blitz India
NUCLERA, a biotechnology company specialising in expediting protein expression and purification workflows through its benchtop eProtein Discovery system, has received two highly competitive Innovate UK grants totalling £1.14 million.
This funding comprises a £790,000 Flexible, Agile, Scalable, and Sustainable Technologies (FASST) grant, secured in collaboration with DeepMirror, and a £350,000 Engineering Biology grant aimed at advancing the platform.
Notably, these grants include evaluations by Dr Konstantinos Beis, an independent expert from Imperial College London, and Dr Andrew Quigley from Diamond Light Source.
Nuclera’s proposed platform aims to assess the most suitable conditions for obtaining functional proteins, and the MPL is well positioned to assist in this development with over 30 different membrane protein controls available.
The FASST grant, an integral part of the Innovate UK Transforming Medicines Manufacturing (TMM) programme, is designed to bolster the UK’s capabilities in drug manufacturing by pioneering innovative technologies to expedite patient access to new medications and treatments.
Furthermore, Nuclera is among 48 companies awarded the Engineering Biology grant, which harnesses engineering biology to address challenges in health, environment, food production, and sustainability.
Commitment to innovation Funded by the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Technology Missions Fund and administered by Innovate UK, this grant underscores Nuclera’s commitment to innovation in diverse fields.
Dr Michael Chen, CEO, and cofounder of Nuclera, expressed his enthusiasm, stating, “Receiving both grants from Innovate UK is testament to the power of eProtein Discovery and demonstrates that Nuclera has the technical innovation to address global unmet challenges in the fields of manufacturing and engineering biology.”
The eProtein Discovery platform addresses a crucial need in drug discovery by providing rapid access to challenging proteins in a benchtop system within 48 hours. This advancement accelerates drug discovery processes by up to 30 times, offering sequences and optimal conditions for informed protein manufacturing.
