Constructive Bio scales to new Cambridge headquarters

21 Nov, 2023

Constructive Bio, a Cambridge biotech that rewrites genomes to create biomolecules that were previously unimaginable, has scaled to a new HQ in the Cluster. The company has taken all of Gen Two’s newly completed lab space in Whittlesford.

Having launched in 2022 with £12.4 million seed investment to scale and commercialise the groundbreaking synthetic biology research of Professor Jason Chin, Constructive Bio’s Chief Scientific Officer, the now 30-person business has relocated its headquarters from a c.2,000 sq ft workspace at an established nearby research park to Gen Two’s 11,000 sq ft ‘The Recodery’.

Backed by leading deeptech investors Ahren, Amadeus Capital Partners, OMX Ventures and General Inception, Constructive Bio has pioneered the development and application of methods for reprogramming the genetic code of living organisms, rewriting the near-universal genetic code of natural life to create organisms that use new genetic codes.

The new organisms deliver remarkable properties: they are resistant to a wide variety of viruses, they can be programmed to make new unnatural, or synthetic, polymers, and even perform entirely new functions.

Commercial real estate adviser COREP represented Gen Two in the transaction, while JLL acted for Constructive Bio. Contractor Area was responsible for the interior design and fitting-out of The Recodery on behalf of Gen Two.

Cambridge-based life sciences membership organisation One Nucleus is advising Constructive Bio on operational design.

Ariel Levy, co-founder of Gen Two, said: “We set out to deliver a future-proofed lab scheme which is fit for purpose at The Recodery.

“As we look to roll-out our considered approach to life sciences development in key biotech clusters across the UK, especially where there is a significant supply and demand imbalance for lab space, this project marks an important proof of concept for us.”

The Chesterford Research Park company holds an exclusive licence to IP developed by the Chin Lab at the Medical Research Council’s Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge. The Chin Lab has pioneered the development and application of methods for reprogramming the genetic code of living organisms, rewriting the near-universal genetic code of natural life to create organisms that use new genetic codes.

Constructive Bio is set to re-engineer biology and create completely new classes of enzymes, pharmaceuticals and biomaterials. Earlier this year Constructive Bio made significant advances with its next generation genome synthesis technology, CONEXER. CONEXER combines conceptual and genetic advances to turn genome synthesis into a continuous process, massively accelerating the iteration between synthetic replacement steps. This means the implementation of 500 kbp of synthetic DNA can be achieved within 10 days.