As cell and gene therapies move toward increasingly complex genetic payloads, manufacturing challenges are emerging as a key bottleneck in the development of the next-generation of therapies.
EDINBURGH and LONDON, UK. 23rd March, 2026 – Lentitek Ltd today announced a commercial collaboration that includes the licencing of Lentitek’s proprietary technology with specialist lentiviral vector CDMO ViroCell aimed at addressing these challenges in lentiviral vector production.
The collaboration will combine Lentitek’s lentiviral vector engineering technologies and intellectual property with ViroCell’s GMP manufacturing expertise, enabling the production of increasingly complex vectors required for advanced gene-modified cell therapies.
With operations in Edinburgh and London, Lentitek develops technologies that improve the quality, safety and manufacturability of lentiviral vectors – a critical delivery system used in many cell and gene therapies currently in clinical development.
London-based ViroCell is a specialist contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) focused on vector design optimization and GMP production of lentiviral vectors for clinical use.
With decades of viral vector design experience, and a team that has more than 200 GMP manufacturing batches completed, ViroCell has established a track record of helping developers design and optimise viral vectors to meet their clinical and commercial objectives.
Commenting on the collaboration, Dr Adam Inche, CEO of Lentitek, said:
We are delighted to combine the technologies that Lentitek has developed with ViroCell’s proven expertise in lentiviral vector manufacturing. Current lentiviral vector production approaches can face significant challenges when confronted with the increasingly complex genetic payloads required for modern gene-modified cell therapies such as CAR-T. By combining Lentitek’s vector engineering technologies with ViroCell’s vector optimization and manufacturing expertise, we believe this collaboration will help address these emerging manufacturing hurdles.
Nicholas Ostrout, PhD, VP of Commercial Development and Corporate Strategy at ViroCell, added:
ViroCell has always differentiated itself from other CDMOs through a strong focus on vector design and optimization at the earliest stages of development to ensure effective and efficient GMP manufacturing. We call this objective derisking. Our commitment to building more intelligent and manufacturable vectors led us to the technologies that Lentitek has been developing to ensure that we continue to be the partner of choice for our innovative partners. Developers are continually requesting increasingly sophisticated vector designs, with larger payloads and polycistronic GOIs. We felt that Lentitek’s proprietary technology could further enhance our vector design approach and ensure we continue to maximize viral titers. We look forward to delivering these capabilities through this collaboration.
Under the agreement, Lentitek will provide design insights for ViroCell’s proprietary transfer plasmid, laboratory-scale production and testing services, alongside licensed access to its lentiviral vector production technologies.
About Lentitek: Lentitek Ltd is an Edinburgh-based biotechnology company with laboratory operations in London. The company develops vector engineering technologies that enhance the quality, safety and manufacturability of lentiviral vectors used in advanced therapies including adoptive cell therapies and gene therapies. Founded in 2019 by Dr Adam Inche, Lentitek has raised over £1.5 million in private and grant funding and is focused on commercialising its lentiviral vector technologies.
For more information about Lentitek, visit www.lentitek.com or contact info@lentitek.com.
About ViroCell: ViroCell Biologics is a London-based viral vector CDMO advancing lentiviral and retroviral-based therapies from concept to clinic. With a team that brings over 20 years of expertise and approximately 200 GMP batches produced, the company designs robust vector strategies that consider productive titres and clinical goals from the outset. Its next-generation platforms and high-yield GMP processes enable rapid delivery- typically six months – while maintaining the quality standards required for clinical development.
For more information about ViroCell, visit www.virocell.com or contact info@virocell.com.
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