From discoveries to inventions

Pictura Bio is creating a rapid pathogen detection platform to scale diagnostics for infectious diseases at the point of care. Combining the power of single-molecule fluorescent microscopy with machine learning and optical engineering, its patented technology is able to identify an array of pathogens in under a minute. This enables faster, affordable and universally accessible diagnostics to accurately determine the causes of infections.

Medusa Materials is transforming carbon dioxide into carbon-negative minerals to drive sustainability in the construction industry. Its MEDUSA system takes carbon captured from sources like cement kilns, coal power plants, beer fermenters and even the air, using biological agents and waste materials to convert it into limestone and carbonate crystals. These can be used in concrete as a cement supplement, reducing atmospheric carbon, cutting cement consumption for greener, more resilient building materials.

PentaBind is designing high performance aptamers as therapeutic delivery vehicles and active ingredients. It uses generative artificial intelligence models, supported by wet-laboratory data generation processes, to help produce aptamer drugs that are easy to design, highly selective and ‘invisible’ to the immune system. Unlike many RNA drugs targeting mRNA, its aptamers overcome high gene turnover issues and endosomal escape challenges for effective tumour penetration.