Laverock Therapeutics founded to develop the next generation of programmable cell therapies

Laverock Therapeutics Ltd was founded to develop a unique gene silencing platform for the creation of programmable, allogeneic cell therapies. Having recently completed a seed funding round, the company has opened dedicated labs in the Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst, employing six new team members on top of an experienced senior management team.

Laverock’s mission is to utilise Gene Editing induced Gene Silencing (GEiGS®) technology, and its associated computational platform, to engineer induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) derived cell therapies with improved efficacy, safety, and accessibility.

Earlier this year Laverock demonstrated that its technology, exclusively licensed from Tropic Biosciences, would translate from plants to humans. The company has now created GEiGS engineered iPSCs, further de-risking its platform technology and laying the foundation for its approach. Experiments are underway to demonstrate cell type and condition specific programmability, generating data to support allogeneic programmes in Type 1 Diabetes and solid tumour directed immune therapy.

CTO Tim Allsopp commented: “As the promise of iPSC-derived therapies continues to grow, so does our understanding of the limitations of existing approaches. Our novel technology has the potential to transform the sector via the creation of programmable, allogeneic cell therapies.”

CEO David Venables commented: “We are thrilled to bring together such an experienced and knowledgeable team of scientific innovators and business leaders to drive forward Laverock’s development. I’d like to thank all our initial investors and supporters who have helped us reach this stage and look forward to bringing you news of further exciting developments as Laverock progresses.”

The team will be attending several conferences including Advanced Therapies Europe (London); Chardan’s 6th Annual Genetic Medicines Conference (New York); Meeting on the Mesa (Carlsbad, California); and European Society of Cell & Gene Therapy (Edinburgh, UK), where they would be happy to discuss more about Laverock, the technology and partnering opportunities.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

About Laverock Therapeutics Ltd

Laverock Therapeutics is developing a unique gene silencing platform, allowing stable, tunable, and programmable gene control, and facilitating creation of allogeneic, adaptive cell therapies. Laverock's differentiated technology allows generation of iPSC-derived products with improved efficacy, safety and accessibility, solving many of the limitations with existing approaches.

Laverock Therapeutics Ltd is based in the Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst and was previously known as Skylark Therapeutics Ltd.

For further information, please contact:

Laverock Therapeutics

E: contact@laverocktx.com

Sciad Communications

Juliette Craggs

E: pressteam@sciad.com
T: +44 (0)20 3405 7892

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Laverock Therapeutics to Present New Data on Programmable, Tunable, Stable and Specific Gene Silencing Platform at ESGCT

October 22, 2024

Stevenage, UK, 22 October 2024 - Laverock Therapeutics, a gene-silencing company with a uniquely powerful technology for the development of programmable advanced therapies to tackle major diseases, today announces it is to present new data on its innovative gene-silencing platform at the European Society of Gene & Cell Therapy (ESGCT) Conference in Rome 22-25 October. Led by COO Tom Payne, Laverock’s team of scientists will be presenting three posters covering the Company’s technology platform and its application to CAR T cells and tumour microenvironment (TME) responsive macrophages for oncology. The data demonstrates the broad utility of the gene silencing technology for the development of differentiated therapeutic products. In contrast to other approaches, Laverock’s technology allows gene silencing that is programmable – linking silencing to cell identity or state; tunable – giving precise control of gene expression; stable – avoiding transient affects or epigenetic silencing; and specific – showing minimal loss or gain of function effects. It is also readily multiplexable, allowing targeting of multiple pathways in a single engineering step. Laverock’s product-focused posters demonstrate tunable, multiplex silencing of checkpoint pathways in primary T-cells, and use of phenotype-specific miRNA expression patterns to control macrophage function in response to TME cues. Tom Payne, COO of Laverock, said: “Over the last year we have generated a complete set of data in human cells demonstrating the unique features of our technology – namely its ability to silence genes in a programmable, tunable, stable and highly specific manner across a number of target genes and cell types. We believe this will enable the development of safer, targeted cell therapies by engineering human cells that exhibit gene silencing of the right genes, in the right cell, and at the right time.” Poster presentations: P: 0653. Klucnika, A et al Gene Editing induced Gene Silencing (GEiGS®) - A new technology to transform advanced therapies by programmable gene silencing. (Thursday 24.10.24 14:15 – 15:30). P: 0694. Houghton, B et al Programmable, multiplex CAR T cell engineered with Genome Editing induced Gene Silencing (GEiGs). (Thursday 24.10.24 18:00 – 19:30). P:0780. Menon, V et al Gene Editing induced Gene Silencing (GEiGS) technology to develop TME-responsive macrophages for solid tumour immunotherapy. (Thursday 24.10.24 18:00 – 19:30). ENDS For further information please contact: Laverock Therapeutics: E: contact@laverocktx.com Media Enquiries: Charles Consultants Sue Charles – Sue@charles-consultants.com +44 (0)7968 726585 Chris Gardner - Chris@CGComms.onmicrosoft.com +44 (0)7956 031077 About Laverock Therapeutics Laverock Therapeutics is a gene-silencing company with a uniquely powerful technology which harnesses the cell’s natural gene regulatory mechanisms to develop a new generation of programmable advanced therapies to tackle major diseases. Laverock’s truly innovative technology re-directs naturally occurring micro RNAs (miRNAs) to conditionally silence genes in a way which is programmable, tunable, stable and specific. This opens a path to more effective, safer and accessible advanced therapies. Laverock is applying its technology through its own pipeline – targeting oncology and genetic diseases – and through partnerships. Laverock has a highly experienced leadership team with proven track records in biotechnology, pharma and academia and an exceptionally strong Board. Laverock completed a £13.5m seed round in September 2023. Its high-calibre investors include Calculus Capital, Eli Lilly and Company, Mercia Ventures, Maven Capital Partners, Eos, UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund and Tekfen Ventures. For more information, please visit www.laverocktx.com and follow us on LinkedIn .

Laverock Therapeutics makes significant advances in its unique programmable gene silencing platform and announces pipeline focus on advanced therapies in oncology and genetic diseases

By Juliette Craggs • September 26, 2024

Programmable, tunable, stable and specific gene silencing has been demonstrated across multiple target genes and multiple cell types PoC achieved with concomitant silencing of more than one gene Industrialisation of platform processes delivering significant increase in throughput Strategic in-house focus on development of pipeline of programmable advanced therapies in oncology and genetic disease Potential additional application to multiple high impact therapeutic areas through partnering including, hypoimmunogenicity/type 1 diabetes, inflammatory diseases and fibrosis

Laverock Therapeutics announces forthcoming investor, scientific and partnering conference schedule

September 5, 2024

Stevenage, UK, 5 September 2024 - Laverock Therapeutics, a gene-silencing company with a uniquely powerful technology for the development of programmable advanced therapies to tackle major diseases, today announces its conference attendance programme for the remainder of 2024. Forthcoming events include: ISCT Europe Regional Meeting , 4 – 6 September in Gothenburg - speaking Healthtech Innovation Day , 17 – 18 September in Paris - speaking, investor meetings Sachs Biotech in Europe Forum , 25 – 26 September in Basel - speaking, investor meetings and partnering Chardan Genetics Medicines Conference , 30 September – 1 October in New York - speaking, investor meetings and partnering ARM Meeting on the Mesa , 7 – 9 October in Phoenix, AZ – speaking, investor meetings and partnering TechBio UK 2024 , 16 October in London - panellist ESGCT Congress , 22 – 25 October in Rome - scientific presentations BioEurope , 4 – 6 November in Stockholm - investor meetings and partnering Cell 2024 , 6 – 8 November in London - speaking, session chair, panellist David Venables, CEO of Laverock, said: “We are excited to be showcasing recent advances in our technology at a number of key investor, scientific and partnering events. Over the course of 2024, Laverock has further validated its platform’s ability to silence genes in a programmable, tunable, stable and highly specific manner across multiple target genes and cell types. We have also broadened the platform’s potential by demonstrating the ability to silence more than one gene concomitantly. These developments further expand the range of potential applications for Laverock’s technology.” To arrange meetings with the Laverock leadership team at any of these events, please contact: contact@laverocktx.com ENDS For further information please contact: Laverock Therapeutics: E: contact@laverocktx.com Media Enquiries : Charles Consultants Sue Charles – Sue@charles-consultants.com +44 (0)7968 726585 Chris Gardner – Chris@CGComms.onmicrosoft.com +44 (0)7956 031077 About Laverock Therapeutics Laverock Therapeutics is a gene-silencing company with a uniquely powerful technology which harnesses the cell’s natural gene regulatory mechanisms to develop a new generation of programmable advanced therapies to tackle major diseases. Laverock’s truly innovative technology re-directs naturally-occurring micro RNAs (miRNAs) to conditionally silence genes in a way which is programmable, tunable, stable and specific. This opens a path to more effective, safer and accessible advanced therapies. Laverock is applying its technology through its own pipeline – targeting regenerative medicine and oncology – and through partnerships. Laverock has a highly experienced leadership team with proven track records in biotechnology, pharma and academia and an exceptionally strong Board. Laverock completed a £13.5m seed round in September 2023. Its high-calibre investors include Calculus Capital, Eli Lilly and Company, Mercia Ventures, Maven Capital Partners, Eos, UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund and Tekfen Ventures. For more information, please visit www.laverocktx.com and follow us on LinkedIn .