Tozaro secures Canada-UK Research & Development funding todevelop tools for lentiviral production, in partnership with ViricaBiotech Inc. and Centre for Process Innovation (CPI)

• Efficient production of lentivirus at scale for advanced therapies continues to be rate-limiting
  for development of new drugs
• The consortium will work together to develop a novel kit for end users that will enhance
  lentiviral production and yield

Bedfordshire, UK, 17 September 2025: Tozaro, an emerging technology provider in the field of cell and gene therapy manufacturing, is pleased to announce today that it has been awarded £154,000 in funding as part of a consortium developing novel tools to improve lentiviral vector manufacturing. The consortium includes Virica (supported through the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP)) and the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI), who will also be partly funded by the grant. Additionally, Tecrea and the National Research Council of Canada will also participate in the project through the provision of key resources.

Lentiviral vectors have been historically used for ex vivo cell therapies (including CAR-T for cancer) as a means of modifying cells for therapeutic use. Such viral vectors are fragile and difficult to produce cost-effectively at scale. With the industry moving towards in vivo cell therapies for cancer, an approach which could improve patient access and economics, significantly greater amounts of viral vector will be required. Current manufacturing methods and underlying healthcare economics are not optimal to meet this demand without improved reagents and more efficient manufacturing processes.

By focusing on both upstream (cell culture and viral vector production) and downstream (recovery and purification) elements of lentiviral vector manufacturing, the consortium expects to significantly improve functional yield and reduce manufacturing cost-per-dose. Tecrea’s novel Nanocin transfection reagents will be used alongside Virica’s Viral Sensitizers (VSE™) to boost upstream production of lentiviral vectors. Tozaro’s Smart Polymer™ technology will be deployed to enable specific downstream capture and affinity purification of lentiviral vectors. It is envisaged that the combined performance of these technologies will improve overall yield and quality of lentiviral vectors. Once development is complete, CPI will independently evaluate the combined performance of these novel reagents in its laboratories.

“International partnerships like this are essential to substantially improve viral vector production efficiency,” said Dr. Jean-Simon Diallo, scientific co-founder and CEO of Virica. “Providing support for the consortium to align complementary technologies and expertise will allow us to push the limits of today’s lentiviral production systems to advance solutions that will make it possible to bring new life-changing therapies to patients around the world.”

Dr. Jason Slingsby MBA, CEO, Tozaro, said: “Tozaro is excited to take part in this international consortium across the UK and Canada. Jointly developing these novel reagents across the upstream and downstream processes for lentiviral vectors will enable enhanced performance, which should support wider commercial uptake of life-changing cell therapies in patients in need of new treatment options.”