COVID-19 Updates

Covid-19 has changed what any one of us would consider normality. Social distancing, international travel bans and Open Innovation on a scale we could never have imagined as we have collectively sought to navigate through the disruption. There can be no doubt of the importance of testing, vaccines and treatments to the way out of this period. As rapidly as 23 March, the day the UK Government announced our version of lock down, the Quadram Institute announced how it was part of the £20M national programme to use whole genome sequencing to start to understand the spread of Covid-19. We saw UCL, UCLH and Mercedes AMG engaging as innovation at the highest level in engineering and medicine combined to address the shortage of ventilator capacity. Further down the East Coast we have seen how tenants such as Pfizer, A4PBio, Wren Therapeutics and others at Discovery Park have all been engaged in activities around novel anti-virals, assisting pharmacists during Covid-19 and enabling others to keep their non-Covid-19 related clinical trials progressing. By the 7 April we saw three of the region’s major players, AstraZeneca, GSK and University of Cambridge come together to support the creation of a new testing lab. We also saw great work from Cambridge Clinical Laboratories in coordinating the ‘smaller testing ships’ in the region in offering up support. This led to them joining with the national COVID-19 Volunteer Testing Network to provide support to the work of the PHE and NHS testing laboratories. Pulling these numerous smaller providers, some not diagnostics labs but with molecular expertise to offer, presented a key opportunity in building sustainable testing capacity. A wonderful example of how our region is enabled by champions willing to play their part. One of the strengths of the cluster here is the proximity of the different industrial sectors when it comes to needing inter-disciplinary solutions. There have been some excellent examples of collaborations across the divides. Avacta collaborating with Cytiva springs to mind as life science meets engineering with the aim of developing, validating and manufactureing their point-of-care test in double quick time. Even within their own field, we saw manufacturers respond to divert normal manufacturing lines into producing much required Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Just north of our patch we saw a great example at BoxMart. Their normal business is to produce bespoke cardboard packaging for everything from personalised gifts to hampers. Answering the call for PPE, BoxMart transitioned to focus on making single-use, reinforced PPE face shields, even finding scope to develop rainbow patterned child friendly versions. An innovative and rapid change of direction when they knew our real heroes needed them. Availability of PPE became a serious matter as we are all aware. The University coordinated an extremely effective campaign seeking donation of PPE for NHS staff and there were many anecdotal mentions of our members donating PPE to the front line cause.

And what of vaccines and treatments. It will be a huge and international R&D effort to discover, test, manufacture and distribute effective vaccines and therapeutics that is certain. Competition falls by the wayside when such a pandemic is upon us and collaboration at a global scale is what is required. We see AstraZeneca collaborating with Oxford University teams on developing a novel vaccine at scale for example. Further, through the US Government DARPA programme, AstraZeneca is collaborating with institutions from US and China to discover neutralising antibodies. The drive to develop new therapeutics and vaccines against Covid-19 is not only happening in our region or indeed the UK. Through our collaboration with GlobalData we have been able to get regular snapshots of the global product development pipelines both in terms of development stage and type of product as illustrated below from May 2020.

Covid-19 Pipeline

Covid-19 Pipeline by Molecule Type

Remdesivir already the front runner in development but a strong pipeline of >500 potential treatments sitting behind. Large molecules dominating the R&D pipeline is not unexpected. It is interesting to see the geographic breakdown of the developments. The UK is well represented with a significant share of the European pipeline. The critical mass of the US-based activity accounting for almost half of the pipeline overall.

The innovation, collaborations and talent available in the region was reportedly a major draw for AstraZeneca’s major relocation here and I am sure that engagement pipeline will play its full role in influencing how we emerge from Covid-19. The enforced and rapid on-set of the disruption has seen great leadership come to the fore. Whether directly involved in Covid-19 research or indeed remaining active in other therapy areas, the adaptability of the life science base at company and individual level has been remarkable in many quarters. There have been a variety of approaches taken as one would expect in a sector that has such diversity of businesses and business models in play. Changing shift patterns and segregating teams to enable lab research to continue was taken forward by some, others took a step back to ensure that had thought out their strategy and team dynamics before returning to drive their innovation forwards. Much has been learned and shared around how to engage and motivate remote working teams, how to communicate effectively and perhaps around individual health and wellbeing that may change everyday awareness and practices post Covid-19. Within the One Nucleus team we have adapted our operations and engagement activities to be able to support our members through the disruption. Learning as we go along from feedback and sharing lessons with our peer group organisations arranging virtual events, it has been remarkable to see the rising level of engagement in innovation webinars, Digital BioWednesdays and online training as examples. Planning for a digital ON Helix has been challenging and exciting in equal measures.

Now we are able to increase the breadth of content, international engagement and legacy creation in a manner we would not have previously dreamed of for instance. A particular highlight for me was chairing a webinar discussing with members how they have adapted, what advice they would give and why some approaches have worked. Emma Sceats, CEO Isogenica and one of those conspicuous leaders I mention above, I feel summarised the key points well as follows:

Communicate regularly with all key stakeholders (partners, investors, employees) - you’re in this together

Make your team integral to planning and COVID-related process development

Be honest about the level and type of support you can offer national/global COVID efforts and how becoming involved might impact your business in the shorter and longer term

Plan now for the post-pandemic business environment – it will be different and your business may need to adapt to survive and succeed Very sage advice and all of it applicable to any leaders whether Covid-19 disruption related or not in my view. It has also been brilliant to hear how our businesses feel that having to work remotely from their business partners has had limited impact due to them building strong and trusted relationships from the outset. A key aspect of any successful collaboration. Perhaps in an industry where partnering, collaboration and deals are the norm for moving science and business forward, then the well-honed alliance and relationship management skills always required have rendered our businesses more resilient to such disruption. Maybe it is the fact that dynamic, innovation-led companies in an industry such as life sciences also need to always be adapting to change that has also helped here. That said, I suspect it is also true that such leadership has always been present and this period has just seen them deploy those skills to the challenge in hand. It should not be forgotten that the ability to respond in such an impressive way, whether regionally, nationally or via international collaboration has been possible through prolonged investment, both public and private, to create such a world class ecosystem for research, innovation and enterprise. One can only hope that the legacy of Covid-19 includes a realisation that investing in excellence, encouraging free thinking, enabling entrepreneurs and incentivising private capital is key to delivering global health resilience and patient benefit. Moreover, the younger citizens amongst us have now been given an insight into what biomedical science means and what life changing impacts it can make, so perhaps in the future when asked “what do you want to be when you grow up?” some will answer that they want to be a scientist!

Foreword by Tony Jones, One Nucleus

The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown everything into flux. Communications and marketing have been no exception. With both staff and customers being largely remote, conferences and events disrupted, and a growing sense of product apathy among the public, companies have a serious communications hurdle to overcome. Many companies have seen this as an opportunity to update their websites and refocus their communications, both internal and external. As advertising and marketing budgets are down for almost everyone, organisations are turning to low cost ways to promote themselves, such as social media. However, the huge increase in LinkedIn users and oversaturation of posts has made it difficult to cut through the noise.

These issues have come with a consequent change in behaviour, and successful companies will take advantage of emerging trends: people are now actually reading their emails1. This, however, doesn’t mean they are necessarily following calls to action: therefore, in order to promote your business effectively, make it as simple as possible. A clear concise subject line that can be read in full before opening the email, and a big shiny call to action button, are paramount. In addition, people are responding less to corporate advertising, and more to real people. LinkedIn recently shared data on the kinds of posts its users were reacting to most positively, and the results unsurprisingly showed that those sharing authentic personal experiences had the most interactions.2

Internally, up to date information is more essential than ever. As lockdown rules and advice change almost daily, it’s important for employers to ensure the entire team is briefed on those changes and how they affect the organisation. Employers have an added responsibility they have arguably never had before: ensuring the social aspect of the office continues when everyone is so socially distant. This involves informal video chats, quiz nights, WhatsApp groups entirely dedicated to employee’s pet selfies; whatever the best way to engineer the organic conversations that usually happen over the office kettle boiling.

A new area of focus is video conferencing, for both meetings and conferences. With the demise of Skype, many video platforms have emerged to fill the hole, including Microsoft Teams, Zoom and Google Meet. Events production platforms are using creative means of encouraging attendees to interact, with virtual exhibition spaces, meeting rooms and “mingling” spaces. Online platforms have also meant that many events that were previously confined to just one region or country are now accessible to international attendance, creating more opportunities.

A positive and unintended consequence of video conferencing is that everyone’s voice is at the same volume, and the speaker’s face centres on the screen. This makes it easier for more softly spoken speakers, often women, to be heard and have their contributions acknowledged. Whether it is cats on keyboards or kids joining calls, we are seeing folk as people, not just professionals. Companies which have been able to cut through the noise are those which have recognised the power of people: focusing on wellbeing and equality, giving a voice to their employees, letting customers speak on their behalf.

It’s hard to know what the future will bring, but it’s clear that life, comms and conferencing won’t return to “normal” anytime soon. Perhaps in 2021 we’ll see more ‘hybrid’ events mixing online and in-person conferencing, or outdoor events. However, it’s clear that communications must adapt to changing times. So far, those who have focused on people and purpose over products have been the most effective. Article by Agility Life Sciences

In March 2020 AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline and the University of Cambridge came together to establish the Cambridge COVID19 Test Centre as part of the UK Government’s National Testing Strategy for COVID-19 infection. Over a six week period the centre was established in the University’s Anne McLaren Building on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus. Establishing the centre involved designing laboratories, purchasing new robots and borrowing laboratory equipment from the three partner organisations, designing a testing process, establishing a supply chain for all critical reagents, building an amenities centre for staff breaks, and recruiting and training over 160 volunteer staff to work in the centre. Volunteer staff included secondees from both pharmaceutical companies and over 100 University of Cambridge post-doctoral researchers who were unable to access University laboratories at that time because of the national lockdown. Creating the centre involved an unprecedented level of collaboration between the three organisations with problems being solved in days that would normally take weeks to months. This was achieved through the energy, commitment and innovation of the many volunteers involved. The Test Centre started to receive patient swab samples in May following validation of the laboratory process by NHS England and has since worked to test patient samples alongside the government Lighthouse Laboratories.

The centre, equipped with state-of-the-art laboratory automation and innovative scientific processes tests many thousand samples each day for the presence of SARS-CoV2 viral genome. Samples are collected across the UK as part of the national testing strategy and delivered to the centre on a daily basis with results reported back to the individual through the NHS. The test involves taking a nasopharyngeal swab from the patient, extracting the viral RNA genome from the swab sample and using a highly sensitive and specific quantitative Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction assay to detect copies of the viral genome in the swab sample. In addition to providing testing capacity the centre has focussed on improving the efficiency of the testing process having implemented automated sample handling to simplify the initial receipt of samples, a 384-well assay protocol that reduces the number of PCR machines by 75% and a miniaturised assay that reduces reagent costs by 50%, with further innovations in development. As the many volunteers returned to their original roles at the end of lockdown, the Cambridge-based contract research organisation Charles River Laboratories joined the collaboration to recruit up to 200 members of staff to enable the continued operation of the centre, a process which will complete in September.

The creation of the Cambridge Test Centre has been a hugely exciting, challenging and rewarding project for all the scientists and laboratory support staff working within the centre as well as the many people involved in procurement, buildings management, Human Resources, Legal and many other functions required to create and operate the centre. This continues to be so as the centre delivers testing capacity while continually working to optimise and improve the testing process. Establishing this centre has only been possible through outstanding collaboration across the Cambridge ecosystem, drawing upon expertise from AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline, Charles River Laboratpories, many academics within the University and experts at Addenbrookes Hospital. This partnership has demonstrated new ways of working that will continue long after the pandemic is over.

Given the increased risk of exposure inherent in travelling, employers may want to implement a temporary travel policy related to COVID-19 which does not replace the standard overarching policy, but rather supplements it. The below guidelines are intended to assist travel managers in developing and implementing such a policy.

Prior to booking, you must consider the regulatory status of not only the origin country but also the destination, including any transits. Essential considerations will be around border restrictions, travel insurance, PCR tests for travellers, quarantining and social distancing rules. If the borders allow travel, we strongly recommend an assessment of the traveller’s willingness to make the trip and if there are any health risk for them or the people they come into regular contact with at home or in the office. Make it clear what the COVID-19 symptoms are and strictly prohibit travel if they are displaying any of them.

It is advisable at this point to run a risk assessment relating to the rate of COVID-19 infection in the destination(s) and set policy on each country. If the risk is high, i.e. over 20 cases per 100k, you may block the trip; if it is intermediate (10-19 cases), you could set limitations. Some of these could relate to length of stay, number of travellers and mode of transport for instance. Clearly trips should also only be authorised if the investment in time, resources and money can be justified. Therefore, it is recommended to include the trip purpose in any pre-authorisation phase. Ideally requiring sign off from risk, departmental and human resource departments.

Given the dynamic threat of COVID-19, we strongly recommend mandating bookings through a single preferred vendor, referred to as a travel management company (TMC). An audit of your TMC’s services is recommended.

Your company travel policy should stipulate the employee’s ‘Duty of Loyalty’ to the guidance provided; i.e. use of PPE, social distancing and preferred suppliers. Advise against unnecessary detours; i.e. sight-seeing and a preference to use vetted taxi or vehicle hire services for ground transportation as opposed to public transport. The traveller should be made aware of procedures in case of emergency.

On return from the trip, the traveller should be advised to shower, sanitise equipment and clean all clothes which were taken on the trip. The policy should stipulate what do if the traveller suffers any COVID-19 related symptoms, advising to book a test and quarantine. It is recommended to also encourage travellers to complete a feedback form on not only the vendors they used but also any recommendations they feel other travellers may find helpful. Based on recent McKinsey research, we believe business travel recovery will vary by proximity to the destination, reason for the trip, and industry sector.

Domestic trips will likely see a return before international travel. International travel will take longer to rebound because of the complexity of government regulations, mandatory quarantines, and the high risk of fastchanging policies.

Other than critical supply-chain-related projects, travel for sales and client-related meetings is most likely to be among the first to return. Travel for internal meetings, incentives, events, and other off-site gatherings may not return until well into 2021 or later. And some travel for internal purposes might be permanently replaced by virtual meetings and collaboration.

While the COVID-19 pandemic affected all industries, some (such as energy and retail) were hit harder and may face more budget

More than six months into a global pandemic which has had an unprecedented impact across life and business, we are beginning to see the effect on the healthcare industry and to make sense of the repercussions for investment in the sector. As we enter a second wave of staggered lockdowns around the world, companies need to continue to evolve and learn to perfect the art of digital engagement. Investors believe this is an exciting time for the sector and are positive about the opportunities. They are looking at a wide range of therapeutic areas to invest in, not just coronavirus-related therapies and vaccines, as well as health technology, medtech and services. This has been demonstrated in the past few months, with European biotechs raising $9.98 billion in the first nine months of the year, versus last year’s total of $7.74 billion[1].

The healthcare sector is in the spotlight as never before, investment and funding is available, seemingly at unparalleled levels. Generalist investors have become increasingly engaged with healthcare and VCs have substantial funds to deploy, are actively looking to invest, and are prepared to increase time spent on new investments. Especially in Europe, where there is more money available for investment in healthcare companies than ever before, with new investments in companies and VCs raising new funds. To successfully ride this wave, European companies need to communicate a strong and compelling investment story. Technology has and continues to rise to the challenges, and it is crucial that companies adapt to the new ‘virtual reality’ to create buzz and excitement around their story and ensure they are on the investment community’s radar. A handful of priorities stick out as particularly important: • It is crucial for companies to continue to take care of employees and set the right balance between developing their pipelines and getting products and services to customers. Communal responsibility is increasingly valued. Having the right ethos and principles is important, and it is essential to have these aligned. • Since investors state that the quality, track-record and strength of management teams is critical to their investment, now is the time for company managements to self-assess strengths and weaknesses, to be more proactive in their communications and promotion, and to have up-to-date credentials.

• Companies should be thinking about scenario planning for the next 12-18 months, which look likely to remain at least partially disrupted. They need to continue to revisit strategic plans and clinical development. Will they enable you to get to data points that are value drivers with current funding? • It is important to be on the radar of potential pharma partners. Companies should actively look to strengthen existing collaborations and seek new ones, and earlier than before. This could positively impact cashflow. • Changes across the whole manufacturing and supply chain are happening - so be prepared, be adaptable, communicate to find out which end-user needs are changing and where. • Strengthen the balance sheet through accessing finance from exiting investors, opening rounds to new investors or doing deals earlier. Supriya Mathur, Director at the leading international strategic healthcare communications consultancy, Optimum Strategic Communications (Optimum) said: “The pandemic has underscored the importance of science and innovation. Investors have been quick to respond and are investing across the healthcare spectrum in new modalities. Clear and open communication is key to attracting this investment. Companies need to know and understand their investors and must harness the shift to ‘virtual’ to engage their target audiences as early as possible.”

Abcam is a global life sciences company that identifies, develops and distributes highquality biological reagents, proteomic and cellular tools. Serving the healthcare and life science sector, Abcam provides products and services that enable research and drug discovery for in vitro diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Abcam has been at the forefront of the commercial antibody industry for over two decades. Their antibody development approach ensures high performance, batch-to-batch reproducibility from lab scale to full-scale manufacturing, for individual binders as well as complex multiplex assay configurations. The contribution of expert biological reagent developers to the global life science community has been highlighted by the coronavirus pandemic. Abcam has been playing its part by continuing to support the on-going research and development efforts to understand and defeat SARS-CoV-2 and its related conditions. As of May 2020, the organisation’s activities spanned collaborations in the UK, US, and China focusing on recombinant antigen expression, antibody discovery and development, bioinformatics, un-biased assay cascade development, screening, and clinical assay development. Moving at speed in any area of research can’t be at the cost of scientific rigour. The need to ensure data integrity and experimental reproducibility is a key objective for the life science community. Abcam is committed to leading the sector in its efforts to combat the global “reproducibility crisis” related to reagents such as lack of antibody specificity. A central element of the programme has been the routine use of knockout (KO) validation, using gene-edited KO cell lines that provide “true” negative controls. With over 2,500 KO validated recombinant antibodies to-date, the initiative was recognised with a 2020 CiteAb award for KO validation.

More recently, Abcam has been focused on expanding the depth and breadth of its offering, with targeted partnerships and strategic acquisitions enhancing the organisation’s capabilities and associated capacity. A key focus of the expansion strategy has been extension of antibody conjugation and labelling capabilities to address industry demand for conjugation-ready solutions. In the last six-months this has included: Acquisition of Expedeon’s proteomics technology and portfolio providing key labelling platforms for enzymes, metals, oligos, and fluorescent proteins Partnership with BrickBio developing proprietary quantitative conjugation technology that have application for both quantitative labelling and production of complex antibody constructs suitable for use in development of antibody-drugconjugates Acquisition of Marker Gene Technologies, delivering additional assay development capacity and labelling capabilities based on biology, organic synthesis and fluorescence chemistry expertise

Acquisition of Applied StemCell cell-engineering team to facilitate ready access to CRISPR-edited cell lines

Combined with its existing antibody and protein-based offerings, these capabilities are expanding Abcam’s portfolio, and creating new value-added products to support diagnostic and therapeutic development. Understanding biology and deploying that knowledge to create the diagnostics and medicines of tomorrow is an exciting field in which to work. A field where collaboration and partnerships are playing an ever-increasing role in achieving successful outcomes at speed. To date, Abcam has delivered custom-engineered antibodies using proprietary RabMAb® technology for over 3000 collaborative projects. Abcam remains committed to its role of supporting ground-breaking research around the world.

Consistency in Innovation: How Companies From Across the Bruntwood Scitech Network Are Supporting the Fight Against Covid-19

Phil Kemp, CEO, Bruntwood SciTech The COVID-19 crisis has already had a global impact, in particular the way businesses operate. The world is rapidly attempting to find solutions to the myriad of challenges caused by the COVID-19 crisis, and nowhere else is this more true than across the Bruntwood SciTech network. Life science and tech businesses across Manchester, Cheshire, Birmingham and Leeds are shifting and refocusing their priorities in order to help the national effort in the fight against the pandemic. Firstly, Alderley Park-based Medicines Discovery Catapult (MDC) were approached by the UK government to coordinate the establishment of the national megalabs for testing COVID-19. Within 3 weeks, the Medicines Discovery Catapult had established one of three national ‘Lighthouse Lab’ testing centres which together have created the biggest network of diagnostic testing facilities in British history. Now the laboratory is home to over 80 scientists and volunteers working around the clock to test samples and enable thousands of NHS and key workers to return to the frontline. At Citylabs, part of the UK’s largest NHS Trust - Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust campus, businesses have been using their world-class facilities to manufacture COVID-19 tests. International molecular diagnostics company, Yourgene Health signed a contract with Novacyt - a specialist in clinical diagnostics, to support the production of tests, as well as expanding its lab capabilities to support the surrounding NHS Trust hospitals. Collaborations have also really come to the fore over the last few weeks; at Alderley Park Stream Bio are collaborating with MIP Diagnostics on a rapid diagnostic and mass screening test for COVID-19, whilst at Manchester Science Park, global molecular diagnostics company QIAGEN, in partnership with fellow campus member Affinity Biomarker Solutions and the University of Manchester have been supporting patient testing on high-throughput automation platforms; allowing labs to perform many and continuous PCR-based tests while continuing to research and create new commercial tests for patients who need them urgently. The ‘research’ phase of the government’s action plan aims to better understand the virus, Alderley Park-based Peak Proteins is supporting the race for treatments, working closely with Medicines Discovery Catapult and Retrogenix as they collaborate to identify target receptors for COVID-19, further driving the understanding of the virus. But it’s not just life science companies that have been contributing to the fight against the pandemic. Many digital and tech businesses from across the network have been adapting their online platforms and tech for good.

With Public Health England and the Department of Education closing many schools, colleges and universities, for the majority homeschooling has now become the norm and it’s been the edtech sector’s time to shine. Northcoders, who are based at both Circle Square and Platform in Leeds, have launched a new eight-week full-time and fully remote course to teach people how to code from home. Dicey Tech have been supporting the NHS in their call for more PPE, using their 3D printing facilities to create vital face shields for NHS workers; as have Innovation Birmingham-based Barclays Eagle labs and Energym using their machines around the clock. At Alderley Park, CRUK and Blueberry Therapeutics have also been producing much needed PPE. What’s more, our Citylabs team have been helping the MFT Charity to store, package and deliver care packages for frontline NHS workers, with over £500,000 worth of goods being donated to the cause from UK businesses keen to help. At Bruntwood SciTech, we’re proud to enable and facilitate collaboration; supporting some of the UK’s most innovative minds who are adapting and coming up with new ideas everyday to support the fight against COVID-19. From testing to tech, one thing is consistent during these ever changing times: innovation continues.

Despite the challenging situation, Biocair, a specialist in life sciences logistics, is fully committed to delivering continuity of service within the global supply chain and ensuring safety to its clients, patients and employees. The vital work we support does not stop in times of crisis. Clinical trials, organ transportation, the very attempts to produce a vaccine for COVID-19 are all underpinned by a global logistics system that moves live materials safely and swiftly. And of course, the continued production of life-saving pharmaceuticals and treatments depends on the movement of active ingredients from around the world. Whether you are moving urgent Personal Protective Equipment, COVID-19 test kits or blood samples, we understand the importance of meeting all necessary regulatory, customs, time and temperature requirements. We are designing and implementing new solutions 24/7 to ensure our customers’ critical shipments are transported both safely and effectively, despite the extremely challenging situation. Speaking about the role Biocair plays in the life sciences supply chain, Gary Parker, Business Development Manager, comments that “since the global outbreak of COVID-19, many airlines have suspended their operations leading to restrictions on passenger flights. During these challenging times Biocair has remained fully committed to service provision and has implemented swift service updates, including using alternative carriers, chartering flights and using different routes and entry points.”

Temperature-controlled COVID-19 plasmids from the US to South Africa Medical devices from China to several destinations across Europe 200,000 urgent N95 face masks from China to a leading medical hospital in New York Air charter of temperature-controlled, dangerous goods

Biocair is proud to play a vital role in the global supply chain and, as we know that transport networks are being disrupted, we aim to provide the best service we can, including - as always - giving you a dedicated Biocair contact who will oversee your transportation from beginning to end. Biocair’s specialist services include GDP and GMP-compliant transport of critical shipments, monitoring and tracking capabilities, temperature-controlled packaging and the ability to complete international import/export documentation wherever possible. For more information visit www.biocair.com.

Biocair recently managed the urgent transportation of 14, 000 face masks from China to front line workers in Albania

BoxMart, an award winning Staffordshire based packaging company, has, in response to COVID-19, turned its hand to PPE. Working closely with its supply chain, which brings together materials specialists, constructional design and manufacturing capabilities, the packaging company has brought to market single use face shields in just a few days. BoxMart usually specialises in UK-made, recyclable packaging solutions for a range of industries, from healthcare and pharmaceuticals, to food, beverages, cosmetics and gifts. Having a wide range of clients across different sectors, all with different markets and specifications, means they’re well-rehearsed at cross-pollinating ideas from different industries and thinking innovatively about materials, constructional design and packaging solutions. Their creative approach has meant BoxMart packaging projects have regularly won coveted awards, such as the international Worldstar awards from the World Packaging Organisation, numerous UK Packaging Awards, and a clutch of Starpack awards, which are promoted by the IOM3. Taking this innovative approach a step further, and responding to reports of PPE shortages and specific material shortages and uncertain supply chains, the shields make use an innovative material supplied by sister company Swanline Paper and Board called Cygnus Eco Board ™ - a fibre-based material which displays excellent moisture resistance properties while being completely recyclable. An excellent alternative to plastic and plastic coated materials, the board is often used for outdoor displays, point of sale units and other water resistant applications. For the face shields, the material acts as a strengthening frame enabling use of different grades of plastic window as the market allows, and its printable surface has allowed for a paediatric friendly rainbow design and company branding. They are quick to manufacture here in the UK, and bring with them the ability to scale up to thousands of units per day. The disposable shields retail at just £0.77p per unit in packs of 250, and are being made available to NHS clients, care homes, laboratories, retailers and other frontline workers. Thanks to the company’s long established expertise in Point of Sale units, the face shields are being offered alongside free standing and counter and desk top workspace and customer cough screens and partitions. Together these deliver a range of products which will help many businesses get back to work when appropriate to do so. The shields and partitions aren’t the only COVID-19 related project the company has helped with in recent weeks. In March they turned around several orders for custom made cartonboard boxes in just a few days to enable client Clinical Health Technologies to get their antiviral product to market quickly. BoxMart’s off-the-shelf packaging service, which carries a wide range of boxes and delivery packaging in stock with immediate despatch, has also been invaluable to companies delivering food parcels and isolation hampers to customers and the vulnerable, as well as gifts for NHS workers and other charitable projects.

To find out more about BoxMart - their face shields, workspace partitions or packaging service - visit www.boxmart.co.uk or call the team on 01543 480163.

The Covid-19 Volunteer Testing Network is a voluntary organisation I helped to set up with the purpose of helping private labs use their facilities to test health and care workers for the virus. Testing is done regularly and at no cost to the workers, who can be tested regardless of whether they are displaying symptoms. This is vital to keep crucial workers safe, and to protect vulnerable members of the public from infection. When the coronavirus pandemic got to Britain, a number of symptomatic doctors from local GP surgeries approached my private research company, Systems Biology Laboratory, to ask whether we could test them for Covid-19. We said yes, and tested those who asked us to. We have since extended the service to cover 18 GP practices, now testing frontline workers twice a week if they are asymptomatic, or typically within half a day if they start showing symptoms. Generally we can return results within the same day. We realised that if one lab could test all these practices, then many thousands of healthcare workers could be screened regularly if this testing was expanded across the country. Our model can be scaled up. This is why I have personally donated £1m to help labs meet the costs of converting to Covid-19 testing. The network has grown quickly since its launch at the end of March. We now have six labs regularly testing health and care workers, with over 25 currently in the pipeline and expected to start testing in May and June. These range from large university or private commercial labs to smaller research labs. Although it is often very straightforward for labs to join the network, since they tend to already have the necessary RT PCR equipment, getting hold of consumables like swabs, RNA extraction kits and reagents can be difficult. Demand for these products is increasing across the world, and supply has not yet caught up. The network also helps to procure these items on labs’ behalf. Though consumables can be difficult to get hold of, we are not competing with the UK government for supply. Instead, we can provide an element of diversity in approaches to procurement. We look far and wide at a range of suppliers all over the world, and we have the agility to adapt to different sources. Our work has already had excellent results. For example, the Pangbourne GP surgery near Reading would have had to close down without the help of one of our labs, leaving 13,000 patients without its vital medical care. The practice suffered an outbreak of the virus amongst its staff, and it was only thanks to SBL’s testing that was able to stay open. The lab tested 21 of its staff over two days, delivering results within four hours. This helped confirm and monitor the spread of the virus - most of the staff did have the virus, and this information helped the surgery to manage its team more efficiently. This helped to protect other staff members and patients. The network’s labs have also protected people in the care sector. For example, Davis French & Associates tested the staff of a community care provider who suspected they may have been transmitting the virus across their clients. Eight of the 20 swabs they took came back positive. This was especially valuable since none of them were at that point symptomatic, yet were still at risk of shedding the virus. This testing helped the care provider to isolate staff who were infected, and more safely manage the continued care they could give to vulnerable people in the community. The Covid-19 Volunteer Testing Network has already proved a very effective way to help expand private labs’ testing capacity, which has contributed to keeping many healthcare staff and patients healthy and safe. It is set to continue this valuable work in the future. Interested labs and healthcare staff should visit www.covid19-testing.org.

On the very same day (23rd March 2020) that the UK Prime Minister announced the lockdown in response to the growing threat posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, Domainex began its ‘4 Days On, 4 Days Off’ working arrangement across 7 days/week to maximise social distancing on site (by having over 50% fewer staff present) and thus protect the wellbeing of our staff while also allowing us to continue to serve our clients. This article describes the steps we took to reach this decision and our experiences since then. Domainex is a profitable, mid-size drug discovery contract research organisation based just outside Cambridge, UK. In 2019 we catered to over 40 organisations, with 55% of our revenues coming from the UK and 45% from overseas clients in Australia, Europe and the United States. We help our clients to invent new therapeutic drug candidates to treat a variety of human diseases. The majority of our staff are laboratory-based chemists and biologists. As the response of the UK authorities to the Covid-19 pandemic evolved during February/March we held a series of leadership team meetings at Domainex to consider our response. Of paramount importance in our thinking was the health and wellbeing of our staff and their families. The view that we formed to the guidance issued by the UK government that travelling to and from work would be allowed where work could not be done from home as was the case for our laboratory scientists but that we would need to put various safeguards in place to protect them. The timetable to the decisions we took and the announcements we made to our staff is summarised in Table 1. We managed to stay a step or two ahead of the UK government’s guidance as it was emerging. Looking retrospectively back, it is apparent that our policies evolved rapidly in the space of just 19 calendar days.

4th March

5th March

Washing hands, hygiene posters displayed; request to notify company of any contact to persons from affected areas; new guidelines issued for visitors. Anybody displaying any cold/respiratory infection symptoms asked to stay at home for few days and self-monitor.

13th March

17th March Staff asked to self-isolate for 7 days if they develop a fever or a persistent cough, only calling NHS 111 if symptoms still present. Shift working pattern announced: • Non-laboratory staff asked to work from home Labs to stay open for 7 days/week Lab-based staff to be split equally into 2 teams Each to work for 4 consecutive, extended days and then have 4 days at home Staff with carer responsibility given option to take holiday or unpaid leave if required Senior management to be present on site each day Extra cleaning, e.g. of door handles Laboratory technician to work across the 2 teams but extra safeguards put in place No more visitors (other than essential maintenance) No more face-to-face business meetings Numbers allowed in meeting rooms limited

20th March

23rd March 27th March Composition of 2 Teams finalised with new office seating so that no staff would have to sit directly next to or opposite anybody on their shift. New working arrangements communicated to our clients. Updated guidelines issued: Laboratory opening hours extended (6.30am to 7pm) Fire wardens and first aiders present on each Team Mix of lab work (80-90% of time) on 4 ‘on’ days and home working (10-20% of time) on 4 ‘off’ days (e.g. lab book writing up) finalised • Holiday allowance converted to hours and bank holidays to become normal working days (except for the Easter weekend) to allow for uninterrupted work 4 Day On, 4 Day off working pattern starts with Team A on-site. Team B begins its first shift after Team A had finished its last ‘on’ day 12 hours earlier.

Given that we have now completed 8 weeks in this new working pattern what have been our experiences? After some early misgivings, everyone at Domainex has adapted well to the new working pattern. Most importantly, all of our staff have stayed free of the apparent symptoms of Covid-19. Inevitably with over 50% fewer people on site on any one day it’s been a much quieter place to work at and given our scientists greater access to instruments. Switching to an 8-day rolling week has meant laboratory staff have worked over the weekends on occasions– in all 8 out of 28 ‘on’ days (or 28.5%) for each 7 week cycle. The upside though has meant that they’ve been able to enjoy 4 ‘off’ days every week (other than for spending half to one whole day working remotely from home), sometimes for 4 weekdays, potentially covering childcare/home education while their partners work. Our clients have responded very positively, grateful we’ve been able to keep their projects on track. Given the wonders of modern technology we have all become even more familiar with using Teams to videoconference with clients who often have been calling in from their homes. Above all else, the response of our staff has been nothing short of phenomenal. While millions have either been furloughed or made unemployed, through their willingness to embrace change, we have been able to preserve their wellbeing and livelihoods. While it has become our ‘new normal’ it’s been a strange time too in many ways - such as collecting a working colleague off a train on the weekend from a completely deserted local railway station. What for the future? Well as I write this piece none of us know how long we will be required to continue with this working pattern to maintain social distancing. We do not expect social distancing rules to be lifted any time soon. We are looking forward to the day when we can all be reunited. As to when things do eventually return to normality, it will be interesting to see whether our working practices revert back to the way they were or if the Mon-Fri working week evolves into new ways of working. Our current way of working has effectively doubled our capacity, giving us greater operational leverage and the opportunity to take on more work and employ more scientists which bodes well for our future.

By Tom Mander, CEO

Testing is a key resource in this crisis period and strategies to optimise access to testing are essential. Automated platforms are an important way to reduce pressure on healthcare systems ensuring individuals infected undertake appropriate isolation procedures. In synergy with central tests which are rightly prioritised for patients and key workers, we propose a solution that serves local businesses and communities directly. Shortage in reagents supply and not laboratories is the perceived bottleneck to effective volume of tests. Nonetheless, hidden costs come from sampling, packaging and shipping, identification of appropriate spaces, definition of tailored samples workflows, accreditation of the single sites, disruption when tests depend on kit-based methods. This, particularly at the level of local communities and networks of businesses and across multiple sites.

OpenCell has developed BSL2+ testing laboratories in 300sqft shipping container. A purpose-built proof of principle modular lab has a current capability of 500 tests every 5h, over 2000 RT-PCR tests in 24h. We use OpenTrons liquid handling robots for RNA extraction and adapt to several RT-PCR reagents, to avoid supply shortages. Each sample is logged with a unique identifier. Clinical samples have been tested in collaboration with King’s. This is a unique opportunity to establish a mid-term solution to the problems of scale faced by local communities and businesses. The containers can be (1) deployed and relocated reaching effectively different locations directly, (2) retrofitted with combined solutions on as improved testing becomes available, (3) optimise significantly the resources needed compared to any alternative option available based on packaging and shipping. OpenCell has several years of experience in handling containers and turning them into laboratory spaces and is hosting 70 converted labs for tenants in their Shepperd’s Bush site in London. The StemCellHotel at King’s College London led by Davide Danovi has been actively supporting this project bridging across sectors, bringing access to samples, advise on analytics, and engaging in seeking funding to scale. Solutions can be discussed for a costing model per test when outsourced entirely including infrastructure/reagents/operators and depending on the number of tests needed and the length in time they are needed for. Equally, single containers can be engineered to fit existing accredited tests. More information are available at www.opencell.bio or please contact info@opencell.bio or davide.danovi@kcl.ac.uk.

Started in 2015, PrecisionLife has a base near Oxford as well as offices in Cambridge, MA, Copenhagen and Warsaw. Our mission is to find better therapeutic options for patients with unmet medical needs. We are committed to working both with drug discovery teams to find and validate novel approaches to disease as well as with healthcare providers to identify the best treatments for patients, personalized to provide the most effective, safe and affordable therapies.

Complex disorders like dementia, COPD, cardiovascular or metabolic disease don’t have simple, single gene explanations, so why should we expect analysis tools that find single SNP associations to give us a full picture of the drivers of disease in a population? Complex diseases are driven by networks of interconnected causative factors and metabolic processes. Patients’ disease risks and responses to therapy vary enormously due to combinations of their mutations, predisposing phenotypic features, co-morbidities and environmental influences. The key to understanding these diseases at a deeper level and finding better therapies is to identify combinations of these factors (disease signatures) that distinguish one patient sub-group from another. Using a powerful new mathematical framework, we have developed a unique analytical platform that looks deeper at patient populations and reveals the factors driving complex diseases at unprecedented resolution. We find combinations of genomic, clinical and epidemiological features that help us to understand why some patient sub-groups have higher disease risks, different progression rates and outcomes, and different responses to specific drugs.

These unique insights are used in new drug discovery and repurposing approaches, especially to address unmet medical need, finding innovative new targets and candidates for patients who do not benefit from existing drugs. New targets and lead candidates undergo stringent validation and are fully annotated to provide a complete in-silico data package. Selected targets/leads may then be validated biologically in patient derived and other assay/model systems. The same disease signatures are also used to provide highly predictive patient stratification biomarkers that help select the right responder cohort for clinical trials, and within our clinical decision support framework to help clinicians to choose the most effective medicines for specific patients. We have analyzed large scale patient populations in multiple neuropsychiatric, neurodegenerative, respiratory, inflammatory and metabolic diseases. We’ve published case studies identifying new patient sub-groups and therapeutic approaches in diseases such as ALS, asthma, schizophrenia and Sjögren’s syndrome. Most recently, we identified

a series of risk factor genes shared between sepsis and severe COVID-19 patients, both diseases where traditional genome analysis tools have so far failed to identify the main disease causes. We disclosed 70 new disease associated genes and 59 potential drug repurposing candidates to aid in the identification of the most at-risk COVID-19 patients and the trials of new treatments for late-stage severe disease1 . PrecisionLife’s analytical platform is efficient and highly scalable and has generated a pipeline of highly innovative disease programmes, whose development we are supporting in collaborations with multiple commercial and academic partners. Our DiseaseBank™ database contains deep insights into the factors driving these complex diseases, revealing the detailed architecture of patient sub-groups and the potential treatment options relevant to them. We work with a wide range of biopharma, disease charity and healthcare organizations to: Identify innovative early stage drug discovery/repurposing opportunities Select patient stratification biomarkers for clinical trials design and recruitment Build personalized combinatorial risk scoring tools Develop personalized therapy selection / clinical decision support tools Find better options to treat patients’ unmet medical needs

1 Pre-print available at https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.05.20091918v1