Alchemab lands £25m from British Business Bank in record life sciences bet
The Cambridge biotech says the funding will help grow its antibody dataset past a billion sequences and push more drugs into the clinic.
July 9, 2026 – 8:15 am
Cambridge biotech Alchemab Therapeutics has extended its Series A round with a £25 million ($34 million) investment from the British Business Bank, which the company claims is the state-owned lender’s largest backing of a life sciences company to date. The money will aid the clinical-stage firm in building its drug pipeline and expanding a proprietary antibody dataset that already ranks among the largest of its kind, within a field where AI-driven antibody discovery has garnered significant investor interest.
Alchemab stated that the funding will enable it to grow its database from 500 million to over a billion antibody sequences, and advance further clinical candidates into development. Per the company, the additional capital brings its total Series A to date to £109 million.
Founded in 2019, Alchemab specializes in uncovering what it terms autoprotective antibodies, naturally occurring molecules found in individuals with unusual resistance to hard-to-treat diseases. Its Resiliome platform integrates this antibody database with advanced AI and laboratory validation, aiming to identify and characterize the antibodies that confer protection.
According to the company, the platform employs AI-derived algorithms to locate naturally occurring antibodies in people who resist a range of challenging-to-treat conditions, subsequently developing first-in-class drugs from them. Alchemab describes this resulting database as the world’s largest antibody dataset sourced from disease-resilient individuals.
The approach has already borne fruit, yielding a lead asset: ATLX-1282, described by the company as a first-in-class antibody therapeutic for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), currently under clinical development and licensed to Eli Lilly. This deal, per Alchemab, offers robust validation of its platform.
"We are delighted that British Business Bank has recognized the importance of enabling Alchemab to grow and thrive here in the UK," expressed Dr. Jane Osbourn, the company’s chief executive and co-founder. She added that the investment provides “further validation of the sustainable, long-term potential” of the firm’s drug discovery platform, aiding in accelerating its pipeline of therapies for conditions with substantial unmet needs.
Dame Kate Bingham, managing partner at SV Health Investors and chair of Alchemab’s board, framed the round as a testament to Britain’s capacity to scale its own biotech companies: "The UK life sciences sector has the expertise, creativity, and commercial potential to build globally significant biotech companies, and Alchemab is determined to be one of them."
For the British Business Bank, this deal stands as a declaration of purpose. Charlotte Lawrence, managing director of direct equity, characterized it as a “landmark” commitment, adding that Alchemab "sits at the cutting edge of UK scientific capability, integrating deep sequencing and lab-based validation to harness the body’s natural defenses against disease.”