Scotland’s Synpromics expands gene therapy work with UCL deal

Edinburgh, Scotland based Synpromics has teamed up with UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health to develop novel gene therapies for diseases affecting the haematopoietic system.

This partnership further expands the firm’s activities in the cell and gene therapy sector, building on its strategy of establishing partnerships with leading academics in the UK to integrate its technology into novel gene-based medicines.

This parties intend to develop synthetic tissue-specific promoters for use in the specialised cells of the immune system, and to apply them to gene-modified cell therapy, particularly where cells such as microglia or other myeloid cells can be used to deliver a therapeutic protein to the target pathologic sites.

Similarly, output from the collaboration also has direct applications to further improve CAR-T therapy, Synpromics said.

"We’re able to design promoters that are active in any cellular lineage of the haematopoietic system by leveraging the subtle changes in transcription profiles that are evident in the different cell populations present in the blood," noted the firm’s founder and chief scientific officer Dr Michael Roberts.

"By embarking on this collaboration, we aim to develop a portfolio of promoters that have broad applications in multiple disease indications."