MIP Discovery, a cell and gene therapy viral vector specialist, has rebranded to Tozaro.
According to Tozaro, this move comes at a time of significant growth, and follows the company’s decision to enter the cell and gene therapy sector — specifically focusing on the development and manufacture of viral vectors.
Toazaro has also recently received GBP £7m of Series A funding, which will go towards the optimisation and development of novel viral vectors appropriate for cell and gene therapy applications.
Smart polymers for better vector affinity
The company will achieve this by developing smart polymers, which are designed using computational chemistry.
These polymers allow users to extend the use of such materials beyond what’s currently possible with biological reagents.
In Tozaro’s design protocol, whole viruses are assessed to identify surface epitopes by which synthetic affinity reagents can bind.
It will then compare its library of more than 600 monomers to the epitopes present on the virus to determine which have optimal characteristic for new smart polymer development
“The promise of cell and gene therapies is being constrained by the high cost in producing treatments using methods that are inefficient and cumbersome. Tozaro’s novel approach to building reagents for viral vector manufacturing can change this,” said Chair of Tozaro’s Board, Dr Mike Evans.
“The rebrand, including a change of name to Tozaro, aligns with our ongoing commitment to growth and focus on developing novel solutions that will enable widespread adoption of next-generation therapies.”
Tozaro's Interim CEO, Guy Leaver, added: “We have already seen positive results with our first wave of lentivirus smart polymers designed for both analytics and capture chromatography. We are excited to see this trend continue as we head into the latter part of the year and expand our portfolio under our new identity, Tozaro.”