The biotech company will use the funds to help the commercialisation of its specific and selective polymer-based ligands for use in cell and gene therapies.
Bedford-based biotech company Tozaro has raised £6 million in venture funding to support the commercialisation of its specific and selective polymer-based ligands for use in cell and gene therapies.
The investment was led by Mercia Ventures, which was investing from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund II and from its own funds, alongside other existing investors.
The company has demonstrated its ability to design and discover polymer-based de novo binders to protein epitopes of interest. The firm’s platform is suited to generating affinity ligands to support biomanufacturing of advanced therapies, enabling next-generation affinity chromatography products, where stability and cost effectiveness of binding modalities are key.
Last year, Tozaro collaborated with global chromatography companies to establish proof of concept performance data for its ligands for viral vectors. Funding will be used to accelerate further product development and commercialisation of its lentiviral vector and AAV affinity ligands and enable testing in real-world settings.
“We are now the leaders for ML-guided in silico discovery of polymer binders to proteins, a vast new chemical space,” said chief executive Jason Slingsby.
“This new funding will accelerate the momentum gained in 2025, and support new partnerships and collaborations with leading chromatography companies, who clearly recognise the need for improving recoveries and purity of viral vectors, while simplifying manufacturing processes.”
Tozaro has now raised £23.7 million in several rounds of funding.
