Exactmer is delighted to announce it has been awarded €2.49M (£2.15M) from the European Innovation Council (EIC) through its Transition programme, to fund ground-breaking research in the synthesis and manufacture of oligonucleotide (oligo) therapeutics. The funding will fast-track the development of new oligo chemistries for Exactmer’s patented Nanostar Sieving technology, which enables the large-scale manufacture of exact polymeric pharmaceuticals.

‘Alternative Chemistry for Oligonucleotide Synthesis using Nanostar Sieving’, ALTOLIGO, will develop innovative synthesis routes to revolutionise the production of oligos, using greener and cheaper methodologies, and alleviating burdensome supply-chains. In contrast to current methodologies, which rely on the classical phosphoramidite approach using solid-phase platforms, Nanostar Sieving employs the liquid phase for synthesis, making the process inherently scalable. Moving away from dependence on solid supports allows for novel, non-classical syntheses to be developed and optimised, pushing the boundaries for efficiency in oligo production.

Exactmer’s CEO, Prof. Andrew Livingston said: “Exactmer is a technology innovator in oligo manufacture. Our Nanostar Sieving platform harnesses over a decade of research at the forefront of membrane technologies, from the Livingston Group at Queen Mary University of London, and provides a step-change in exact polymer manufacturing. This makes it the ideal platform to address the needs of the oligo synthesis market. This EIC Transition funding will enable us to deliver cheaper and more-efficient oligo manufacturing methods, ultimately bringing these innovative therapeutics to all patients in need.”

The EIC Transition programme offers start-ups and small to medium enterprises (SMEs) grants of up to €2.5 million to fund activities that go beyond the experimental proof of principle, addressing both technology and market development. The programme is being financed through the UKRI Horizon Europe Guarantee funding in the UK.

Exactmer began as a spin-out company from Imperial College in December 2017, and is now a fast-growing SME based in Londoneast-UK Technical Park in Dagenham, East London. Contact us at sales@exactmer.com if you are interested in partnering on our oligo synthesis work developing through ALTOLIGO, or to find out more about our work in this area.

Exactmer is excited to announce the opening of new facilities at our premises in the Londoneast-UK Business and Technical Park in Dagenham, East London. The new space will house a Membrane Casting facility, for the manufacture and production of proprietary membranes used in our Nanostar Sieving platform. The facility will also accommodate membrane-related R&D activities. This marks the beginning of an exciting expansion for Exactmer as we begin growing our Membrane Manufacturing operations, and will streamline the commercialisation of the Nanostar Sieving platform and products.

Exactmer has grown rapidly over the last year, having also acquired new R&D lab and office space. This has enabled the company to establish new partnerships and research activities, and expand our manufacturing capabilities across both our oligonucleotide and exact-PEG syntheses services.

Exactmer is delighted to have been awarded the Startup Pitch and Partner award in the ‘Emerging’ category, at BioVaria 2022.

Exactmer’s winning pitch on the development of our proprietary Nanostar Sieving technology for oligonucleotide synthesis was chosen by a jury of leading investors, in a showcase of 13 hand-picked start ups from across Europe.

BioVaria is Europe’s leading showcasing event for life-science technologies, targeting technology scouts, business developers and investors, and bringing together Europe’s leading tech transfer professionals, innovators from academia and representatives of the global biotech and pharma industry.

This year’s event was held in Munich in May, bringing together over 230 life-science innovators to the two-day event, with more than 60 licensable innovations presented by leading players from all over Europe, from therapeutic and diagnostic approaches to platform technologies.

Read the full feature here.

The SCOUT project, launched by CPI to help Scottish SMEs overcome challenges of innovation, hosted a webinar on February 9th 2022, centred on ‘Powerful Partnering’. At this event, Andrew Livingston outlined Exactmer’s journey and the successful partnership that supported its development.

In 2021, Exactmer became a central part of Grand Challenge 3, from the new Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre (MMIC), aimed at collaboratively revolutionising the manufacture of oligonucleotides. The collaboration, which includes AstraZeneca and Novartis, enables the partners to utilise their combined expertise across scale-up, analytics, and process development, ultimately transforming the oligonucleotide supply chain. The MMIC employs a ​‘Grand Challenge’ model, consisting of collaborative projects that bring together effective partnerships to address key issues raised by pharmaceutical industry consortia.

Andrew was joined by representatives from the MMIC, as well as Astra Zeneca’s Terry Reed, and Barrie Cassey from CPI. The webinar explored the opportunities and challenges encountered in developing successful partnerships, with the stakeholders sharing insights and experiences that help accelerate innovation process.

You can catch the webinar on-demand, here.

In the latest issue of Chemistry Today, Andrew Livingston and Katie Murray discuss the challenges involved with oligonucleotide manufacturing, and the role Nanostar Sieving can play in overcoming them.

Abstract
Oligonucleotides, which have already shown success in the treatment of rare diseases, are now being used to treat conditions with much larger patient populations. However, limitations associated with the current state-of-the-art solid-phase manufacturing technology – namely high costs and low capacity – inhibit their true potential. Despite this, oligonucleotide-based drugs are still moving through the R&D pipeline, but their progress will be hindered without an overhaul of the current manufacturing process. An exciting academic, government and industry collaboration is investigating the potential of a novel liquid-phase synthesis technique. This technique – referred to as Nanostar Sieving – circumvents many of the limitations associated with solid-phase oligonucleotide manufacturing, offering a more cost-effective and environmentally sustainable method of manufacturing oligonucleotides at a larger scale.

Read the full article here: