Pomegra
Magnitude Biosciences, a Durham University spinout, closes a £1.3 million round led by Northstar Ventures to commercialise its worm-based in vivo drug screening platform.
- Northstar Ventures led through three North East funds; Maven's regional funds and angels co-invested.
- VivoScan screens drug candidates in living C. elegans worms using robotics and AI, bypassing isolated-cell assays.
- The raise also unlocked a £217,000 Innovate UK Investor Partnership grant, bringing total new capital to roughly £1.5 million.
Worm-Based Drug Discovery Gets Its First Dedicated Growth Round
Magnitude Biosciences, the County Durham contract research organisation founded in 2018 as a Durham University spinout, closed a £1.3 million funding round on 15 September 2026 to accelerate commercial rollout of VivoScan, its proprietary in vivo high-throughput screening platform. Northstar Ventures led the round via the North East Spinout Inspire Fund, the North East Innovation Fund, and the Northstar EIS Growth Fund. Maven Capital Partners contributed through its regional funds alongside a group of new angel investors. Valuation was not disclosed.
The round also triggered a £217,000 Innovate UK Investor Partnership grant, lifting the total new capital entering the business to approximately £1.5 million.
What Does VivoScan Actually Do?
VivoScan answers a stubborn problem in early-stage drug discovery: most screening happens in isolated cells or against single molecular targets, which tells researchers very little about how a compound behaves inside a functioning organism. Magnitude's platform instead runs assays inside C. elegans, a one-millimetre nematode worm whose biology shares enough with mammals to produce predictive data on aging, neurodegeneration, and metabolic function.
The worms are kept alive and free-moving throughout. Automated imaging captures multi-endpoint data continuously, while robotics handle compound dosing at scale and an AI layer processes the resulting images to quantify responses. The result is whole-organism phenotypic data at a speed and cost that previously required traditional vertebrate animal models. A companion instrument, WormGazer, extends continuous monitoring for longevity-specific endpoints.
The company sells access to VivoScan as a service to pharmaceutical, biotech, nutrition, and health supplement firms. Existing clients are concentrated in the ageing and neurodegeneration space, where identifying compounds that extend healthspan rather than merely extend life creates distinct commercial demand.
Why Is Northstar Ventures Backing This Now?
The timing reflects two converging pressures. Regulators in the UK and EU are tightening expectations around early-stage animal welfare data while simultaneously encouraging the adoption of New Approach Methodologies - testing strategies that reduce, replace, or refine traditional vertebrate use. C. elegans sits in a regulatory grey zone that is favourable for sponsors: the organism is not classified under vertebrate animal testing rules, yet produces systemic biological data.
The longevity drug sector has also grown fast enough to generate real procurement budgets. Geroscience - the field targeting biological aging mechanisms directly - has attracted significant pharma attention since 2022, and early screening is one of its highest-friction costs. A platform that reduces the cost and timeline of that screening phase addresses a genuine bottleneck.
Northstar Ventures' focus on North East England spinouts makes the fit legible. Magnitude is based at NETPark, the North East Technology Park in County Durham, and its co-founders - David Weinkove, Craig Manning, and Boo Virk - remain operationally active.
How Will the Capital Be Deployed?
The company identified three uses: equipment purchases to expand screening capacity, headcount additions, and broadening commercial relationships with global pharmaceutical companies. The grant component from Innovate UK likely funds defined R&D milestones rather than operating costs, which means the equity raise carries the bulk of the commercial build-out.
The company had previously raised £700,000 in an earlier round, also backed by regional funds. This round is roughly double that, suggesting investors are satisfied with early commercial traction even if no specific revenue figures were disclosed.
Outlook
Magnitude Biosciences enters its next phase with a focused mandate: move VivoScan from a specialist research tool used by early adopters into a recurring-revenue service line for mainstream pharma clients. The platform's value proposition - whole-organism data without vertebrate animal model costs or regulatory friction - aligns with regulatory direction of travel. The near-term test is whether the company can convert pharmaceutical pilot contracts into multi-year screening agreements. The additional Innovate UK grant provides a cushion to advance platform capabilities while the commercial pipeline matures.
