The growing complexity of genetic payloads in cell and gene therapies is creating new manufacturing challenges, increasingly seen as a critical bottleneck in the development of next-generation treatments.
Edinburgh and London, UK, 23 March 2026 – Lentitek Ltd has entered into a commercial collaboration with ViroCell, incorporating the licensing of Lentitek’s proprietary technology to support advancements in lentiviral vector production.
Through this collaboration, Lentitek’s intellectual property and vector engineering capabilities will be combined with ViroCell’s GMP manufacturing expertise, enabling the production of more advanced and complex vectors required for gene-modified cell therapies.
Lentitek operates across Edinburgh and London, developing innovative technologies aimed at improving the reliability, safety and scalability of lentiviral vectors, which play a central role as delivery mechanisms in many emerging therapies.
ViroCell, headquartered in London, is a specialist CDMO focusing on vector optimisation and the GMP manufacture of lentiviral vectors for clinical use.
Drawing on decades of experience in viral vector design and more than 200 GMP production runs, ViroCell has established itself as a key partner for developers seeking to refine vector performance for both clinical development and commercialisation.
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 terms of the agreement, Lentitek will provide input into the design of ViroCell’s proprietary transfer plasmid, alongside laboratory-scale production and testing services, as well as licensed access to its lentiviral vector platforms.
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 [email protected].
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 [email protected].
