Scripta secures £9.1m seed to reprogramme transcription networks for Alzheimer’s
This article covers Scripta Therapeutics, an Oxford-based techbio startup, which has raised £9.1m ($12m) in a seed round to develop drugs that modulate transcription factor activity. The funding will support a biology-first platform combining AI, imaging and patient-derived models to map and reprogramme disease-driving transcriptional networks, initially targeting Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative conditions.
Scripta Therapeutics, an Oxford-based techbio startup, has raised £9.1m ($12m) in a seed round to develop drugs that modulate transcription factor activity — the master regulators of gene expression. The funding will support a biology-first platform that combines AI, imaging and patient-derived models to map and attempt to reprogram disease-driving transcriptional networks, with an initial focus on Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative conditions.
Why it matters
Drug discovery for neurodegeneration has long struggled to deliver disease-modifying treatments. Scripta’s approach targets transcription factors — proteins that coordinate large gene-expression programmes — rather than single protein targets. If successful, this could change the focus from symptomatic treatments to therapies that reset cellular states and tackle underlying disease mechanisms.
The company’s ambition reflects wider trends across UK and European biotech where AI and human-relevant models are being deployed to address hard-to-treat diseases, and where investors are increasingly willing to fund platform-first drug discovery efforts.
Inside the product
Scripta says its platform builds detailed disease maps from patient-derived samples and imaging data, using lab-in-the-loop experiments and AI-led informatics to identify interventions that alter transcriptional networks. The idea is to find molecules that reprogramme cells from a disease state back to a healthy state, rather than simply inhibiting a single pathway.
The platform is disease-agnostic by design, but Scripta has prioritised Alzheimer’s and related neurodegenerative disorders in collaboration with scientific co-founder Noel Buckley, Professor of Neurobiology at the University of Oxford. Using patient-derived models here aims to improve translational relevance compared with some traditional target-based discovery pipelines.
Founder perspective
In the announcement, Peter Hamley, founder and CEO of Scripta, said:
We’re flipping the script on conventional target-based drug discovery to find therapies that genuinely move the needle for patients. By focusing on understanding and manipulating the master controllers of biology, we’re searching for drugs with the potential not just to delay disease progression but to stop it in its tracks.
Experienced biotech executive Ray Barlow, CEO of SynOx Therapeutics, has joined Scripta’s board as a Non-Executive Director. His background in drug development is intended to strengthen the company’s commercial and development strategy.
In the announcement, Ray Barlow, CEO of SynOx Therapeutics, said:
Scripta brings fresh thinking and a novel biology-led, data-rich approach to a traditionally challenging area of drug discovery. I am looking forward to working with this outstanding team to deliver effective new medicines that are long overdue for so many patients.
### Who's backing the round
Who’s backing the round
The seed round was led jointly by Oxford Science Enterprises and Apollo Health Ventures, with additional investment from AlbionVC, YZR Capital and Parkwalk Advisors, and support from Oxford University Innovation. The round totals £9.1m ($12m).
In the announcement, Claire Brown, Partner at Oxford Science Enterprises and a Scripta board member, said:
We’re proud to be backing Scripta – a brilliant team that exemplifies the next generation of technology-enabled drug discovery and capitalises on the strength of the University of Oxford and the wider Oxford ecosystem.
In the announcement, Marianne Mertens, Partner at Apollo Health Ventures, said:
Manipulating transcription factors in disease has long been seen as an intractable challenge, yet it holds tremendous promise for treating neurodegeneration and other life-limiting conditions. Scripta’s innovative approach could deliver transformational therapies and exemplifies one of Apollo’s key investment strategies: reprogramming diseased cells into healthy ones to tackle the root causes of age-related diseases and enable disease-modifying treatments.
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The bigger picture
Scripta’s emergence highlights two concurrent shifts: a move towards platform-driven, data-rich discovery programmes in UK biotech, and growing investor interest in approaches that aim to address disease mechanisms rather than symptoms. Oxford remains a hotbed for ventures that combine academic expertise with commercial teams, and patient-derived models plus AI are increasingly central to translating discovery into clinically relevant candidates.
If Scripta can demonstrate that transcription factor modulation produces reproducible, disease-relevant effects in human-derived systems, it will join a small but growing set of startups attempting to shift the paradigm in neurodegenerative disease research — a priority area for UK and European life-sciences funding and policy.
They've invested in Scripta Therapeutics
Get to know these biotech investors
| Investor | Sector | Stage | Activity | Team | Connect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Oxford Science Enterprises | 28 investments investments | 1 contact contact | |||
 Apollo Health Ventures | 1 investment investment | more info | |||
 AlbionVC | 52 investments investments | 6 contacts contacts | |||
 YZR Capital | 2 investments investments | 4 contacts contacts | |||
 Parkwalk Advisors | 16 investments investments | 8 contacts contacts | |||
 Oxford University Innovation | 2 investments investments | more info |
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