Company Directory

Human tissue research CRO supporting preclinical drug discovery

Pharmagene Discovery Services is a UK contract research organisation specialising in laboratory-based research services using consented human tissue and primary human cells. The company provides tailored assay design and development across target expression, spatial biology, functional cellular biology, bioassays, and biotherapeutic safety testing. Operating under GLP conditions and licensed by the UK Human Tissue Authority, Pharmagene maintains an in-house human tissue biorepository and offers sample processing and biostorage services to biopharma clients globally.

Open biological data resources and bioinformatics services for life sciences

EMBL-EBI is the European Bioinformatics Institute, an intergovernmental research organisation and part of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). Located on the Wellcome Genome Campus in Hinxton, it maintains a suite of freely available molecular biology databases including UniProt, Ensembl, Expression Atlas and the Single Cell Expression Atlas. EMBL-EBI also conducts computational research, delivers bioinformatics training, and operates an industry programme supporting pre-competitive research and translational partnerships.

Antibody-oligonucleotide conjugates for spatial biology and proteomics

AbOliGo is a biotechnology company developing antibody-oligonucleotide conjugates (AOCs) for multiplexed protein analysis, spatial biology and single-cell workflows. Its conjugation platform addresses a critical bottleneck in multiomic research, as fewer than 0.1% of commercially available antibodies are currently offered as AOCs. The platform is compatible with major spatial biology and proteomics instruments, enabling researchers to convert existing antibodies into multiomic-ready reagents with improved reproducibility and scalability.

Multiplexed imaging platform for therapeutic mechanism of action discovery

Micrographia Bio is a biotechnology company developing a spatial proteomics platform for drug discovery. Its technology combines highly multiplexed microscopy with machine-intelligent computer vision to autonomously determine the mechanism of action of therapeutic candidates by visualising protein-protein interactions in their cellular spatial context. The company serves pharmaceutical and biotechnology researchers and is advancing an internal pipeline of therapeutic candidates targeting fundamental cellular pathways.

NHS-embedded specialist pathology services and clinical biobank access

Novopath is the commercial pathology laboratory of Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, providing specialist tissue-based diagnostic and research services to biopharma, biotech, and academic clients. Services include histopathology, immunohistochemistry, tissue microarray construction, digital pathology, biomarker discovery, and clinical trial support. An HTA-licensed biobank of over three million archived clinical samples is available for research, evaluation, and diagnostic validation activities, with prospective sample collection offered to meet specific project needs.

AI-ready cellular perturbation datasets for drug discovery

CellCodex is a Cambridge-based company generating large-scale cellular perturbation datasets for the training of foundation AI models in biology. The company combines CRISPR genetic screening, iPSC-derived cell models, and single-cell readouts to produce structured, reproducible, multimodal datasets. Its services span cell engineering, target discovery screening, and AI-grade data generation, serving biotech, pharma, and AI drug discovery companies.

UK distributor of analytical instruments for life science laboratories

Verulam Scientific is a specialist distributor of analytical instruments and laboratory systems serving the UK pharmaceutical, clinical, life science, environmental, and biotechnology markets. The company represents a portfolio of European and US manufacturers, supplying and supporting systems in HPLC electrochemical detection, chromatography, automated sample preparation, MALDI tissue imaging preparation, and laboratory automation. It provides tailored systems integration, service contracts, and consumables support to analytical laboratories across the UK.

Quantitative digital pathology image analysis services for pharma

OracleBio is a contract research organisation specialising in quantitative digital pathology and histopathology image analysis. The company delivers high-precision tissue biomarker quantification services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients, supporting pre-clinical and clinical research programmes. Services span chromogenic and multiplex immunofluorescence analysis, AI-assisted tissue segmentation, and GCP-compliant image analysis for translational biomarker studies and clinical trials, with particular expertise in immuno-oncology and fibrosis.

Single-cell genomics and AI platform for autoimmune and fibrotic disease

Ensocell is a Cambridge-based biotechnology company developing precision biologics for autoimmune, inflammatory, and fibrotic diseases. Its platform integrates single-cell and spatial genomics with AI-based computational tools and advanced cell models to identify novel disease intervention points and design targeted therapeutics. Founded by scientists from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the company is based at Babraham Research Campus and has raised over $16 million from venture capital investors.

RNA immunotherapies targeting novel tumour-specific antigens

Epitopea is a biopharma company developing off-the-shelf RNA-based immunotherapies for hard-to-treat cancers. Using spatial immunopeptidomics, genomics, and systems bioinformatics, the company identifies aberrantly-expressed tumour-specific antigens that are broadly shared across patients with the same tumour type. Unlike mutation-based antigen strategies, these antigens are derived predominantly from non-coding genomic regions. Lead programmes target melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, and colorectal cancer.

Mechanobiology platform for target discovery and validation

Mechanome Bio is a Cambridge-based company developing a mechano-transcriptomics platform for biomarker and drug target discovery. The platform combines spatial multi-omics data from human tissue samples with mechanical tissue profiling and in silico tissue modelling to identify targets linked to changes in tissue mechanical states in disease. The approach aims to address preclinical efficacy failures by incorporating tissue-scale mechanical signatures into drug development from the earliest stages.

Large-scale genomics research institute advancing human and pathogen biology

The Wellcome Sanger Institute is a genomics research institute on the Wellcome Genome Campus in Hinxton, funded by Wellcome. It made the largest single contribution to the Human Genome Project and has since expanded across cancer genomics, cellular genetics, infectious disease and parasitology. Research programmes apply large-scale sequencing, single-cell technologies and computational analysis to advance understanding of human and pathogen biology, with a longstanding commitment to open data sharing.