LabGenius Secures Government Innovation Grant to Expand ML-driven Drug Discovery Platform, EVA™

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), has awarded LabGenius with a SMART grant to accelerate the development of its immune cell engager lead optimization capability

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--LabGenius, a pioneer in the use of machine learning (ML) for antibody engineering, today announced that it has been awarded a highly competitive SMART grant from Innovate UK. Grants from the £25 million fund allow businesses like LabGenius to realize the potential of new ideas by investing in game-changing, commercially viable research and development projects.

To date, LabGenius’ EVA platform has been used to co-optimize mono- and multi-specific single domain antibodies for biochemical and bio functional properties, including stability, potency and selective tumor cell killing. This grant will be used to further expand EVA's capabilities by accelerating the platform’s ability to optimize antibody-based immune cell engager molecules.

Many existing antibody therapeutics have poor selective cell killing profiles, which can result in on-target, off-tumor effects, and the discontinuation of treatment. Using EVA's predictive power, LabGenius is identifying non-intuitive protein designs, which perform well across multiple therapeutically valuable properties, including selective killing.

Commenting on LabGenius’ funding allocation, UKRI Board Member, Lord David Willetts said: “Machine learning presents real promise to transform the way we approach cancer detection and treatment. It is incredibly exciting to see LabGenius focusing its efforts in this area of therapeutic innovation by continuing to advance their immune cell engager lead optimization capability.”

“We’re incredibly proud to have been awarded a SMART grant from Innovate UK” says LabGenius’ CEO and Founder, Dr. James Field. “This funding will help us realize the potential of computational technologies in R&D as we believe that they are the key to accelerating the discovery and development of advanced therapeutics.”

Speaking to the company’s recent success, LabGenius’ Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Gino Van Heeke said, “Lead optimization is a critical part of the antibody discovery process, and this funding will allow us to further demonstrate our platform’s potential to use machine learning to accelerate the development of molecules with best-in-class properties.”

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About LabGenius
Headquartered in London, LabGenius is a leading machine learning-driven protein engineering company. The company’s core technology platform, EVA™, enables the rapid discovery of novel therapeutic antibodies. LabGenius’ highly multidisciplinary team brings together the very best minds from the fields of computer science, robotic automation and synthetic biology.

For more information, please visit www.labgeni.us, or connect on Twitter, LinkedIn and Medium.