A successful business startup, founded by David Weinkove, a Professor in our Biosciences department, and a former colleague, Chris Saunter, recently featured in a series of articles about entrepreneurs in The Times newspaper.
Magnitude Biosciences was set up in 2018 and provides a service to find drugs that extend the time people stay healthy faster and more cost effectively than current approaches, using technology first developed at Durham University. The company undertakes early screening and testing on the nematode worm C. elegans for pharmaceutical, biotech and nutrition companies, as opposed to testing on mice or other animals.
David tells us how the company came about and what their plans are for the future.
Tell us about the company?
My research involves understanding ageing and we use nematode worm C. elegans to find new interventions that slow ageing. This is because the worm ages quickly and is less complex to work with than rodents.
However, even though it lives for only two-to-three weeks, screening lots of compounds or other conditions is very time-consuming. So, I set up a collaboration with Chris Saunter, then an Assistant Professor in Physics, to come up with an automated solution.
Together with a postdoctoral researcher in our department, Craig Manning, we came up with a device that monitors the movement of the worms across lots of populations at once. This device, which is now called the WormGazer, can detect when the worms begin to slow with age and whether anything keeps them healthier for longer.
How did the University support you?
The University provided initial funding for the project via the Biophysical Sciences Institute and in-kind via the Department of Biosciences.
We received support from Technology transfer, our Research and Innovation Service, and we were lucky enough to gain a place on a scheme called iCURE. That helped us come up with the idea of using the technology to provide a contract research service, rather than sell the technology, as it gave us a much bigger potential market. Our clients did not need to know anything about C. elegans to use it.
The Northern Accelerator programme provided funds for a businessperson to join us, which was critical for getting our first investment and starting the company.
How do you feel about the success of the company so far?
It has been amazing to see us be probably the leading company in the world that offers C. elegans services and to have had customers in 12 different countries and several different sectors (biotech, pharma, health products etc.).
We were forced to move to NETPark in Sedgefield during the first COVID lockdown, but it was great for the company. The site is expanding and I hope that more University spinouts can move there.
What do you enjoy most about your work?
It's great to get new companies engaged in what we do, as well as them to sign up and really enjoy working with us. We become part of their Research and Development team, which is a privilege. It's also great to recruit new people to the team. We have recruited from far and wide but it's particularly pleasing when we recruit Durham graduates, see them develop and stay in the area.
I was Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for four years, but since Fozia Saleem took over as CEO two years ago, I take more of an advisory role. I now become involved with tricky challenges or more in-depth discussions with customers.
How did you feel about being featured in The Times?
It's great to highlight the exciting possibilities available for new companies in biotech and other scientific areas in County Durham.
What are your ambitions for the future?
We really need to show that our research has led to the development of a new drug or product that has really helped people. As we work at the early stages of drug discovery that will take a long time, but I am hopeful we will get there eventually.
