LifeArc

Reflecting on 2024: A snapshot of our year! 🚀 As 2024 draws to a close, we're proud to reflect on an incredible year of delivering great science, strengthening connections across the ecosystem, and accelerating progress to bridge the gap between the lab and the clinic. 🌐 Through our Translational Challenges, we continued to engage with experts and patient communities to accelerate solutions for underserved health conditions. • This year, we established disease-focussed networks in the UK that enable new, joined up ways of working, such as our Translational Centres for Rare Disease and the Translational Innovation Hub Network for Lung Health and Infection in Cystic Fibrosis. • In partnership with industry leaders Cancer Research Horizons, Innovate UK and Medicines Discovery Catapult, we launched the groundbreaking initiatives C-Further and PACE-AMR to tackle the biggest challenges in childhood cancer and AMR, respectively. • We have expanded our global impact through meaningful collaborations like ASPIRE, in collaboration with ReAct - Action on Antibiotic Resistance, and the launch of the new Centre for Translational AMR Research (CTAR) at the Drug Discovery and Development Centre (H3D), University of Cape Town. 🔬Our brilliant team of scientists have relentlessly supported our partners through our many capabilities, including data science, assay development, and antibody humanisation and discovery, including launching our cutting-edge antibody discovery platform, B-SMArT. 📚 Along the way, we've shared our learnings with the community and published dozens of resources created in collaboration with experts and patients. These include: the MND Insights Report and MND Biomarker Roadmap Report, made possible by our MND Insights group; the Guide to Impact and Theory of Change; the Transforming Respiratory Health Report (created in partnership with Asthma + Lung UK); and the Childhood Cancer Unmet Needs Report. We're incredibly proud of what we've accomplished in 2024 and are excited to keep building on this momentum in 2025 by continuing to use our translational expertise to create lasting impact for patients.

✨ It’s been a great year here at CF AMR Syndicate, 2024 has been full of exciting developments and milestones. As we close out the year, we reflect on some of our highlights.   We look forward to achieving great things in 2025, working alongside our colleagues and partners.   #CFAMR #CysticFibrosis #DrugDiscovery #Therapeutics #Diagnostics

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Jonathan Morgan as LifeArc's first Chief Medical Officer. Jonathan will join us in January 2025 from Renaissance Pharma, where he led the clinical and regulatory functions of a newly established biotech, focusing on the development of a monoclonal antibody in paediatric oncology. He has almost 25 years of experience in the healthcare industry, with leadership positions across large global pharmaceuticals and biotech. His wealth of knowledge extends across all key medical functions, including clinical development, medical affairs and safety. As Chief Medical Officer, Jonathan will play a crucial role in shaping our clinical research agenda and supporting clinical development programmes, with a focus on advancing promising innovations for underserved health conditions. We look forward to welcoming him in the new year!

"This is a really exciting time to be involved in bronchiectasis research." says Professor Amelia Shoemark, an expert in respiratory research at the University of Dundee. 📈 With the incidence of bronchiectasis on the rise, it's more important than ever to challenge misconceptions and raise awareness about this often-overlooked condition. 🔬 Thanks to large-scale studies, significant strides have been made in understanding key factors involved in bronchiectasis, such as infection, inflammation, and the body's ability to clear mucus from the lungs. Now, we must build on this foundation, deepen our understanding, and advance research into clinical trials to improve quality of life for patients. Do you have expertise in chronic respiratory conditions? We want to work with you! We're collaborating Asthma + Lung UK and industry leaders to accelerate innovation and research in bronchiectasis. ➡️ Find out how we can support your work and join us in driving meaningful change: https://lnkd.in/eMDiNj84

We are delighted to announce that Fiona Roberts has been appointed as LifeArc's Chief People Officer with effect from December 2024. Fiona has a wealth of experience in people leadership, having held HR roles across various sectors throughout her career, including at Volkswagen, The Open University, Carillion Plc and BAA. Fiona held the position of Chief People Officer at The Crick from 2019 until 2023. At The Crick, Fiona helped to reshape learning and development, as well as approaches to health, wellbeing and a listening culture, whilst leading the people agenda, academic training for early career researchers and the science support and service delivery teams. Since then, Fiona has served as Chief People Officer at Kings College London, where she has had significant impact, truly placing People at the centre of the organisation's strategy and vision. We look forward to welcoming Fiona as we continue to drive more innovative therapies toward the patients who need them most.

We often get asked, "How do we decide what areas of health to focus on?" As a self-funded charity, we can focus on finding solutions to medical challenges where our translational science expertise can have the greatest impact. These often have a high unmet patient need and promising science that is ripe for translation, among other factors. As such, we have chosen to focus on the following Translational Challenges: 🔬 Global Health (focussing on antimicrobial resistance and neglected tropical diseases) 🔬 Motor Neuron Disease 🔬 Chronic Respiratory Infection 🔬 Rare Disease 🔬 Childhood Cancer With our expertise and support, we strive to accelerate the progression of promising discoveries in these areas out of the lab and towards patients. Find out more about our Translational Challenges: https://lnkd.in/ePFc9mzK

We’re so excited that our film, “Every breath - living with a chronic lung condition and the need for more support”, is an entrant in this year’s Smiley Charity Film Awards! We teamed up with Asthma + Lung UK to create this film which shows the daily challenges faced by people living with chronic lung conditions like bronchiectasis, COPD, and asthma, and how hard it can be to get a diagnosis and the right care.  In this clip, Felicity talks about her journey with COPD. She shares how delays in diagnosis meant she suffered repeated serious infections before finally getting the care she needed. With faster diagnosis and better treatments, we can help people like Felicity recover more quickly and have a better quality of life. As the world’s largest cause-based film campaign, these awards provide a powerful platform to amplify awareness and share vital messages about important subjects. Through our video, we aim to shine a light on why research into chronic lung infections is so important – something we’re passionate about supporting here at LifeArc.  Please vote for us and help spread the word—we’d love your support to get to the next stage!👉 https://lnkd.in/ea4mbQfc  

Clinicians at King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust are leading the way in exploring a first-of-its-kind treatment for aplastic anaemia (AA) using cell therapy through the TIARA trial. Initial phase 1 results from the trial are promising, offering new hope to people living with AA. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/e7RiKZen AA is a rare and life-threatening condition where the bone marrow fails to produce enough blood cells, causing severe fatigue, infections, and bleeding risks. Current treatments, such as immune-suppressive therapy or stem cell transplants, are often insufficient or unsuitable for many patients. The trial is made possible through our collaboration with The Aplastic Anaemia Trust. Managed by King's Health Partners Haematology, this initiative brings together the expertise of 3 NHS Foundation Trusts in London with the academic prowess of King's College London. The TIARA trial represents a critical step forward in advancing patient care, potentially providing a better chance of survival and an improved quality of life. Video courtesy of King's College London. #AplasticAnaemia #RareDisease #LifeScienceResearch

We are proud to publish our inaugural MND Insights Report – featuring important perspectives from our MND Insights Group and the wider MND community intended to help shape the future of drug treatments: https://lnkd.in/eGsfYVnb This report highlights the critical importance of patient-centred research, with the insights already informing the researchers that we are looking to fund through our £5m MND Drug Repurposing Call. By listening to the voices of the MND community and understanding the challenges we aim to bridge the gap between scientific breakthroughs and solutions that truly matter in everyday life. We would like to thank everyone who has supported the development of this report - including, Oxford PharmaGenesis, all the MND Insight Group participants, our co-chairs Emma Willey and Roger Leek, our report writer Alison Halliday, PhD, and everyone in the MND community that took part in the survey, as well as the Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Association , MND Scotland and My Name'5 Doddie Foundation who have generously shared our material with their networks. Our team is sharing the report at the 35th International Symposium on ALS/MND in Montreal over the next few days where they will also be · Providing updates on the scientific progress of our MND translational challenge · Seeking feedback on the insights from our MND/ALS biomarker report · Discussing our goals in creating an MND TPP and inviting interest in 2025 workshops and focus groups If you're attending the symposium and interested in collaborating with us be sure to visit the LifeArc stand.

Why partner with us on your antibody humanisation projects? - Over 30 years experience - Worked with 51 companies worldwide - 94 antibodies successfully humanised - 98% success rate - Humanised 5 market leading treatments including Keytruda® and Leqembi® We fund promising antibody humanisation projects, taking on the risk so you don't have to. By applying our extensive experience and a collaborative model, you obtain a development-ready molecule that has the best chance of progressing through manufacturing and clinical trials. Find out more about our antibody capabilities: https://lnkd.in/e_VNg3Xa