Alchemab secures £25 million from the British Business Bank in a groundbreaking investment in life sciences.

      Cambridge biotech firm Alchemab Therapeutics has augmented its Series A funding round with a £25 million ($34 million) investment from the British Business Bank, marking the lender's largest funding of a life sciences company to date, according to the company.

      This investment will support the clinical-stage company in expanding its drug pipeline and enhancing a proprietary antibody dataset that is already among the largest available, particularly in a sector where AI-driven antibody discovery is attracting increasing investor attention. Alchemab indicated that this funding will expand its database from 500 million to over a billion antibody sequences and advance more clinical candidates into development. With this additional capital, the total amount raised in the Series A round reaches £109 million.

      Established in 2019, Alchemab searches for what it terms autoprotective antibodies, the naturally occurring molecules found in individuals showing exceptional resistance to difficult-to-treat diseases. Its Resiliome platform merges this antibody database with advanced AI and laboratory validation to identify and characterize the protective antibodies.

      The platform utilizes AI-derived algorithms to discover naturally occurring antibodies in individuals who resist various hard-to-treat diseases, subsequently enabling the development of first-in-class drugs. Alchemab claims this database is the world's largest of its kind sourced from disease-resilient individuals.

      This approach has already led to the emergence of a lead asset. ATLX-1282, which the company describes as a first-in-class antibody therapeutic for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), is currently in clinical development and has been licensed to Eli Lilly, a partnership Alchemab views as strong validation of its platform.

      Dr. Jane Osbourn, the company's chief executive and co-founder, expressed delight that the British Business Bank has recognized Alchemab's potential for growth and success in the UK. She noted that this investment serves as further endorsement of the company's sustainable, long-term drug discovery capabilities and will aid in accelerating the development of therapies for conditions with significant unmet needs.

      Dame Kate Bingham, managing partner at SV Health Investors and chair of Alchemab’s board, characterized this funding round as a measure of the UK's ability to scale its biotech companies. She stated, “The UK life sciences sector has the expertise, creativity, and commercial potential to build globally significant biotech companies, and Alchemab is determined to be one of them.”

      For the British Business Bank, this agreement signifies an important commitment. Charlotte Lawrence, managing director of direct equity, described it as a “landmark” investment, emphasizing that Alchemab is at the forefront of UK scientific capability by integrating deep sequencing and laboratory validation to leverage the body’s natural defenses against diseases.

      Carmine Circelli, senior investment director for life sciences at the bank, highlighted that the firm has combined “one of the world’s largest proprietary antibody datasets with advanced AI” to create a platform that promises to unlock new treatment options. The bank noted that its investment would assist in transforming promising results into valuable medical breakthroughs.

      The British Business Bank, established in 2014 as the UK government's economic development bank, aims to support smaller companies in obtaining the financing necessary to start, scale, and remain within the country. Alchemab stated that the investment is facilitated through British Patient Capital, the bank's commercial subsidiary.

      The company’s current investors include SV Health Investors, along with its Dementia Discovery Fund, RA Capital Management, DCVC Bio, Eli Lilly, Lightstone Ventures, Ono Venture Investment, and Camford Partners. Alchemab asserts that it has developed a wide pipeline of first- and best-in-class assets for difficult-to-treat diseases.

      This funding arrives as investors assess the extent to which artificial intelligence can transform drug development, and as British biotech firms seek both domestic and international investment. The broader UK narrative has included multi-billion-pound investments in homegrown companies, and Alchemab aims to become another success story in this context.