Flagship Pioneering, Cambridge University Health Partners, and Milner Therapeutics Institute Announce Collaboration to Accelerate Biotech Research and Innovation

First of its Kind Scientific Collaboration Will Engage Top Research Institutes in Cambridge, UK with Flagship Pioneering

Focus on Scaling and Advancing Flagship's Breakthrough Science and Technologies through the Cambridge Life Sciences Ecosystem

LONDON, Jan. 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Flagship Pioneering, the bioplatform innovation company, today announced an agreement with top life science organisations Cambridge University Health Partners (CUHP) and the Milner Therapeutics Institute (MTI) to collaborate to jointly advance breakthrough scientific research and technologies.

The collaboration will focus on research and innovation and will enable Flagship Pioneering's ecosystem of more than 40 companies to partner with CUHP and MTI to access breakthrough science and technologies, clinical translation and trial support, and data assets and biosamples. It will also allow for career development opportunities with Flagship for Cambridge, UK scientists and students, including through the Flagship Fellowship.

Flagship will work with Cambridge University Health Partners and the Milner Therapeutics Institute to access exciting opportunities across other top organizations in the Cambridge, UK life sciences ecosystem, including the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, the Babraham Institute, the University of Cambridge, the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, the NIHR Cambridge Clinical Research Facility, and the Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust. 

"Our collaboration with CUHP and MTI blends breakthrough research, clinical trial support, access to data assets, and accelerated talent development," said Junaid Bajwa, M.D., Senior Partner and Head of the United Kingdom for Flagship Pioneering. "Cambridge is one of the centerpieces of the UK's life sciences ecosystem, and Flagship has already witnessed firsthand how the US and UK Cambridge ecosystems can potentiate each other's innovations, with the launch last year of our first co-located company, Quotient Therapeutics. We are pleased to announce this collaboration with CUHP and MTI roughly one year after opening our new London hub, and we expect to see further momentum in cooperation between the UK's rich research and life science networks and Flagship and its companies."

"This collaboration unites two of the world's great drivers of life sciences innovation, the city of Cambridge, UK and Flagship Pioneering, in a bid to accelerate the cutting-edge medicines and global companies of tomorrow," said Lord James O'Shaughnessy, Chair of Cambridge University Health Partners. "It is a fusion of scientific creativity, technological innovation, entrepreneurial flair and a can-do attitude, that will allow talent from our world-leading institutes the chance to pair their academic research with Flagship's exciting and novel approach to inventing and building bioplatform companies. Ultimately, we all want to change the lives of patients and create successful businesses, and we're thrilled to be Flagship's UK academic partner."

"Research collaborations like this can further propel the UK's position as a hub for biotechnology innovation," said Sir Tony Kouzarides, Director of the Milner Therapeutics Institute. "We are pleased to add Flagship's unique approach to company creation and development to the thriving ecosystem that exists here in Cambridge, and look forward to seeing where the collaboration will lead."

About Flagship Pioneering

Flagship Pioneering invents and builds bioplatform companies, each with the potential for multiple products that transform human health or sustainability. Since its launch in 2000, Flagship has originated and fostered more than 100 scientific ventures, resulting in more than $60 billion in aggregate value. Flagship is operating with $14 billion of assets under management as of its latest capital raise, announced in July 2024. The current Flagship ecosystem comprises over 40 companies, including Foghorn Therapeutics (NASDAQ: FHTX), Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA), Omega Therapeutics (NASDAQ: OMGA), Sana Biotechnology (NASDAQ: SANA), Generate Biomedicines, Inari, Indigo Agriculture, and Tessera Therapeutics.

About Cambridge University Health Partners

Cambridge University Health Partners (CUHP) is one of eight Academic Health Science Centres in England, whose mission is to improve patient healthcare by bringing together the NHS, industry and academia. Along with leaders from across the Cambridge life sciences and healthcare ecosystem, CUHP devised and now implements the life science strategy for the Cambridge cluster. The partners are, Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), Cambridge and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Cambridge.

About Milner Therapeutics Institute

The Milner Therapeutics Institute (MTI) is a purpose-built research institute at the University of Cambridge, with an overarching vision to convert pioneering science into therapies by driving academic-industry partnerships. The MTI demonstrates a world-leading model of start-up companies, academics and pharma working side by side.

The MTI has an in-house research programme that has  built a mass of expertise in computational research and functional genomics, and is the headquarters of the Milner Therapeutics Consortium, a partnership of nine Pharma companies and three academic Institutions that provides routes to engage with Cambridge academics and entrepreneurs. The MTI also provides space for start-ups through the Frame Shift Bio-incubator.

Media Contacts:

Flagship Pioneering
press@flagshippioneering.com

Cambridge University Health Partners 
comms@cuhp.org.uk

Milner Therapeutics Institute
Nikki Mann
ndo23@cam.ac.uk

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