Edinburgh-based BioTech Lentitek Ltd has secured £700,000 in private funding to make cancer therapies more widely accessible.
The funding comes from Equity Gap, a leading Scottish angel investment syndicate, bringing its total investment to £1m in the last six months after the firm received a £300,000 Innovate UK grant.
It will be used to accelerate the development and commercialisation of its viral vector technology for next-generation cancer treatments.
Lentitek specialises in developing manufacturing technologies for lentiviral vectors, which are essential in the delivery of CAR-T cell and gene therapies – breakthrough treatments for cancer and genetic disorders.
Existing investors, including Gabriel-IS, Apollo Informal Investment, and Scottish Enterprise, joined Equity Gap and prominent private investors in providing the funding.
“Lentitek is tackling one of the biggest challenges in modern medicine – making advanced cancer therapies more widely accessible,” said Fraser Lusty, managing director of Equity Gap.
“With a cancer diagnosis occurring in the UK every 90 seconds and nearly 3.5 million people living with the disease, investing in breakthrough technologies like Lentitek’s is essential to improving patient outcomes.”
Adam Inche, founder and CEO of Lentitek, added: “We are delighted to have received this level of investment.
“It is a tremendous endorsement of the progress made to date and the enormous potential of the technology to help patients access lifesaving treatments.”
Over the past six months, Lentitek has secured evaluation agreements with major contract manufacturing companies.
The company is now aiming to expand its partnerships with leading therapeutic developers working to treat some of the world’s most challenging diseases.
Cell and gene therapies have transformed the treatment landscape for previously untreatable conditions, but challenges in manufacturing and delivery remain barriers to widespread adoption.
Lentitek’s technology looks to address these hurdles, enabling developers to scale production efficiently and reduce costs, making these advanced therapies more affordable and accessible.