Jun 29 2021
DJS Antibodies has announced its move into over 2,000 sqft of newly converted class II laboratory and office space at The Oxford Trust’s Wood Centre for Innovation, the second biotech to join alongside recent occupant Samsara Therapeutics.
Founded in 2015 by David Llewellyn and Joe Illingworth, who met at the University of Oxford’s Jenner Institute, DJS is working on therapeutics to treat critical inflammatory diseases that account for more than 50% of deaths worldwide. The lead programme of its HEPTAD antibody discovery platform targets a validated GPCR (G protein-coupled receptor) for the treatment of Diabetic Kidney Disease, a long-term condition that causes the irreversible loss of kidney function.
Biotech start-up, Samsara Therapeutics, is the first company to take new laboratory space at
The Oxford Trust’s Wood Centre for Innovation. The Trust, a local charity encouraging the pursuit of science and enterprise, is developing life science laboratories at its Wood Centre for Innovation to increase capacity for the local ecosystem.
The £0.5 million development will deliver laboratory facilities to answer the significant demand that has been seen in the last year from science and tech start-ups and SMEs for lab space in Oxford’s Global Health and Life Sciences District, one of the UK’s leading technology clusters delivering lifesaving developments such as the COVID-19 vaccine. The Trust has received £0.1 million in funding towards the project via the Government’s Local Growth Fund, secured by the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (OxLEP).