Constructive Bio is launching following the completion of a £12.35 million seeding round.

The company focusses on two proprietary technologies: large scale DNA assembly, or the ability to construct large chunks of DNA at scale; and genome reprogramming, the process of recoding whole genomes to engineer unnatural products for commercial applications.

The Cambridge-based biotechnology company has also obtained a licence from the Medical Research Council (MRC) for intellectual property developed by Professor Jason Chin’s laboratory, the Chin Lab, at the MRC’s Laboratory of Molecular Biology.

The Chin Lab’s work focuses on the development and application of methods for reprogramming the genetic code of living organisms to create organisms that use new genetic codes.

The MRC technologies will be used to synthesise polymers with non-natural amino acids for commercial applications across a range of industries including novel therapeutics and antibiotics, enhanced agriculture, manufacturing and materials, the company said.

Commenting on the technology, Jason Chin, chief scientific officer at Constructive Bio, said: “Over the last 20 years, we have created a cellular factory that we can reliably and predictably program to create new polymers.

“Using our approach, we have already been able to program cells to make new molecules including from an important class of drugs and to program cells to make completely synthetic polymers containing the chemical linkages found in biodegradable plastics.”

The funding round was led by deep science investment firm Ahren with participation from investors Amadeus Capital Partners, OMX Ventures and General Inception.

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