Healthcare Transforming Technology  takes Business Award

Cell therapies developer Mogrify has won the AstraZeneca Life Science Innovation category of the Business Weekly Awards announced in September, for its proprietary direct cellular conversion technology to further the cause of life science discovery. Co-founder and CSO Prof. Julian Gough, also received the Cambridge Enterprise Academic Entrepreneur of the Year award in recognition of his work as a life science innovator.

The company’s platform technology determines the conversion factors required to convert (ex vivo or in vivo) any target cell type from any source cell type and is being deployed to engineer an evergreen and scalable source of cell types that exhibit efficacy and safety profiles necessary to addess diseases with a high unmet clinical need, such as in ophthalmological, immunological, hematological and other disease areas.

Prof. Gough is a leading bioinformatician and biotech entrepreneur who led the development and application of this platform which utilises a systematic big-data approach (Rackham et al., Nature Genetics, 2016) developed over a 10-year period via a multi-national research collaboration. Graduating with a PhD in molecular biology from the University of Cambridge, Julian became Professor of Bioinformatics at the University of Bristol and is now Programme Leader at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge. He has also successfully started a number of biotech companies.

Dr. Darrin M. Disley, OBE, CEO, Mogrify, said: “Our team are committed to transforming healthcare for indications of high unmet clinical need. The award for Life Science Innovation attests to the potential of Mogrify’s platform and pioneering team to overcome safety, efficacy and scalability challenges for cell therapies and we are honoured to have this recognised by the judges at this year’s esteemed business awards.

“Julian is an outstanding scientist and entrepreneur who has worked tirelessly to advance Mogrify technology and drive its therapeutic application forward, paving the way for future treatments and inspiring those who work alongside him.”

Since February 2019, Mogrify has raised over $20 million USD in seed and series A rounds and $2.5 million USD in grant funding, and has grown to a headcount over 60 of scientific, operational and commercial staff.