Libourne and London, 16 January 2025

Ceva Animal Health (Ceva), the 5th largest global animal health company, today announced to being granted rights to develop and manufacture future products using Touchlight’s dbDNA technology across the animal health field.

Under the stewardship of Dr Ian Thompson, a global leader in vaccines, Ceva and Touchlight will pursue a broad-ranging development programme to bring innovative DNA vaccine products to market for animal health. While the financial terms of the deal remain undisclosed, the agreement includes an upfront payment, development milestones and royalties on sales of commercialised products.

The partnership brings together the world-leading development and commercialisation capability of Ceva with Touchlight’s best-in-class dbDNA technology which enables rapid, high purity enzymatic DNA production and eliminates antibiotic resistance genes.

Stonehaven Transactions (the transactions advisory arm of Stonehaven) acted as strategic adviser to Touchlight in relation to the deal, and Arnold & Porter acted as legal adviser. Ceva was assisted by BP Collins and Ernst and Young.

Press Contacts:

Ceva Animal Health
Emilie Barrail – Group Head of External Communication, emilie.barrail@ceva.com
Bérénice Chauveau – PR Senior manger, berenice.chauveau@backbone.consulting

Touchlight
Tommy Duncan – Chief Business Officer, tommy.duncan@touchlight.com

About Ceva Sante Animale

Ceva Animal Health (Ceva) is the 5th largest global animal health company, led by experienced veterinarians, whose mission is to provide innovative health solutions for all animals to ensure the highest level of care and well-being. Our portfolio includes preventive medicine such as vaccines, pharmaceutical and animal welfare products for farm and companion animals, as well as equipment and services to provide the best experience for our customers. With more than 7,000 employees located in 47 countries, Ceva strives daily to bring to life its vision as a One Health company: “Together, beyond animal health”.

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About Touchlight

Touchlight is an innovation-driven leading CDMO pioneering enzymatic GMP DNA production to enable the genetic medicine revolution. As pioneers, with an FDA Drug Master File accepted in 2022 followed in 2025 with the world’s first cell-free DNA GMP license, Touchlight’s enzymatic DNA technology is on the cutting edge of AAV, mRNA, DNA vaccine, and gene editing technology with its state-of-the-art facility recognised by ISPE’s Facility of the Year Awards (FOYA) for Innovation.

With multiple client products already in the clinic, Touchlight’s evidence-based, synthetic DNA manufacturing solutions offer a scalable, sustainable alternative to plasmid DNA (pDNA) for all stages of pre-clinical, clinical and commercial development. The company and technology are built on the conviction that DNA is fundamental to the future of medicine. Traditional methods, based on bacterial fermentation, are slow, costly, and unable to meet the growing demands of genetic medicine due to limited scalability and speed. Founded in 2007, Touchlight’s team is inspired by breakthroughs in genetic medicine, recognising the urgent need for innovative DNA production techniques to support the future of genetic therapies.

For more information please contact:

Karen Fallen, Chief Executive Officer
Verna McErlane, Chief Commercial Officer
E: info@touchlight.com
T: +44 20 8481 9200

Touchlight, an innovation-driven Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisation (CDMO), today announced that its facility in Hampton UK has received GMP certification. As a result, Touchlight becomes the first synthetic DNA manufacturer globally to gain regulatory approval to produce Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API), enabling the company a unique position to support its growing customer base in developing DNA vaccines and non-viral gene therapies

Specifically, Touchlight has received a Manufacturer’s Authorisation for Investigational Medicinal Products (MIA, IMP) license from the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for the GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) production of Investigational API and Critical starting materials in Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMP) from its manufacturing facility.

Touchlight is the global leader in the production of synthetic DNA products. Touchlight‘s dbDNA technology, a linear, minimal, covalently closed DNA vector, contains no antibiotic resistance genes, enabling better expression than comparator vectors and thus is an ideal API for DNA vaccines and non-viral gene therapy applications. The state-of-the-art facility, located in Hampton, West London and completed in 2023, has 11 manufacturing suites and a capacity of >8kg per year – greater than the current global supply of DNA. Under the newly acquired MHRA license, Touchlight has begun manufacturing API material.

Touchlight is enabling advanced therapies with its dbDNA technology in applications including viral vectors, mRNA, genome editing and DNA vaccines. Numerous client products have implemented dbDNA for clinical development in the US and Europe, including three currently in the clinic, 1 filed and multiple further clinical projects that have initiated regulatory engagement. Additionally, Touchlight manufactured dbDNA for a pivotal study in 2024.  These programmes reflect the transformative nature of dbDNA to improve the economics and safety of scaling advanced therapies.

This GMP certification marks a pivotal moment for the synthetic DNA field, establishing a new standard to produce scalable DNA products with improved purity versus plasmid DNA. Touchlight’s achievement demonstrates that synthetic DNA, with its rapid production and improved regulatory profile, is now a viable alternative to plasmid DNA methods as a starting material and also an API. This milestone further validates the dbDNA platform as the best-in-class synthetic DNA vector for advanced therapy.

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About Touchlight

Touchlight is an innovation-driven leading CDMO pioneering enzymatic GMP DNA production to enable the genetic medicine revolution. As pioneers, with an FDA Drug Master File accepted in 2022 followed in 2025 with the world’s first cell-free DNA GMP license, Touchlight’s enzymatic DNA technology is on the cutting edge of AAV, mRNA, DNA vaccine, and gene editing technology with its state-of-the-art facility recognised by ISPE’s Facility of the Year Awards (FOYA) for Innovation.

With multiple client products already in the clinic, Touchlight’s evidence-based, synthetic DNA manufacturing solutions offer a scalable, sustainable alternative to plasmid DNA (pDNA) for all stages of pre-clinical, clinical and commercial development. The company and technology are built on the conviction that DNA is fundamental to the future of medicine. Traditional methods, based on bacterial fermentation, are slow, costly, and unable to meet the growing demands of genetic medicine due to limited scalability and speed. Founded in 2007, Touchlight’s team is inspired by breakthroughs in genetic medicine, recognising the urgent need for innovative DNA production techniques to support the future of genetic therapies.

For more information please contact:

Karen Fallen, Chief Executive Officer
Verna McErlane, Chief Commercial Officer
E: info@touchlight.com
T: +44 20 8481 9200

Scientists from the University of Nottingham are leading the development of a Zika virus DNA vaccine that can be manufactured within weeks and safely deployed globally in future epidemics. Dr James Dixon in the School of Pharmacy and Professor Janet Daly, director of the University of Nottingham’s Wolfson Centre for Global Virus Research are leading the programme.

Many DNA vaccines in development require devices to deliver the vaccine through the skin, with an injectable DNA vaccine being the target route of administration. The Nottingham team has developed a solution to this problem by developing a proprietary DNA formulation so it can be given by a simple injection. The project will involve the use of synthetic manufacture of the vaccine rather than bacterial fermentation, cutting the development time from 6 months to 6 weeks.

Touchlight’s enzymatic dbDNA technology represents a breakthrough in DNA production and offers a rapid, efficient and scalable method ideal for vaccine development. dbDNA offers the potential to reduce dose, eliminate antibiotic resistance and provide a solution for low cost, stable vaccines for the developing world.  Touchlight will provide GMP dbDNA material for the clinical study.

Further advantages of DNA vaccines are their ability to be produced rapidly and cheaply, without the requirement for the cold-chain storage applicable to mRNA vaccines. This makes DNA vaccines ideal for responding to future disease outbreaks, especially in less economically developed regions.

This innovative project is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) as part of the UK Vaccine Network, a UK aid programme dedicated to developing vaccines for diseases with epidemic potential in low and middle-income countries.

This research was funded by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) as part of the UK Vaccine Network, a UK Aid programme to develop vaccines for diseases with epidemic potential in low and middle-income countries.

About Touchlight

Touchlight is an innovation-driven leading CDMO pioneering enzymatic GMP DNA production to enable the genetic medicine revolution. As pioneers, with an FDA Drug Master File accepted in 2022 followed in 2025 with the world’s first cell-free DNA GMP license, Touchlight’s enzymatic DNA technology is on the cutting edge of AAV, mRNA, DNA vaccine, and gene editing technology with its state-of-the-art facility recognised by ISPE’s Facility of the Year Awards (FOYA) for Innovation.

With multiple client products already in the clinic, Touchlight’s evidence-based, synthetic DNA manufacturing solutions offer a scalable, sustainable alternative to plasmid DNA (pDNA) for all stages of pre-clinical, clinical and commercial development. The company and technology are built on the conviction that DNA is fundamental to the future of medicine. Traditional methods, based on bacterial fermentation, are slow, costly, and unable to meet the growing demands of genetic medicine due to limited scalability and speed. Founded in 2007, Touchlight’s team is inspired by breakthroughs in genetic medicine, recognising the urgent need for innovative DNA production techniques to support the future of genetic therapies.

About the University of Nottingham

Ranked 24 in Europe and 15th in the UK by the QS World University Rankings: Europe 2024, the University of Nottingham is a founding member of Russell Group of research-intensive universities. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience, and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our students. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia – part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement.

Nottingham was crowned Sports University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024– the third time it has been given the honour since 2018 – and by the Daily Mail University Guide 2024.

The University is among the best universities in the UK for the strength of our research, positioned seventh for research power in the UK according to REF 2021. The birthplace of discoveries such as MRI and ibuprofen, our innovations transform lives and tackle global problems such as sustainable food supplies, ending modern slavery, developing greener transport, and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.

The University is a major employer and industry partner – locally and globally – and our graduates are the second most targeted by the UK’s top employers, according to The Graduate Market in 2022 report by High Fliers Research. We lead the Universities for Nottingham initiative, in partnership with Nottingham Trent University, a pioneering collaboration between the city’s two world-class institutions to improve levels of prosperity, opportunity, sustainability, health and wellbeing for residents in the city and region we are proud to call home.

About the UK Vaccine Network:

The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) is the UK Government department which is responsible for helping people to live more independent, healthier lives for longer. This investment is part of the UK Vaccine Network (UKVN). UKVN was established to provide funding to support the development of promising vaccines and vaccine technologies that will help combat infectious diseases that have epidemic potential in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). UKVN is a UK Aid investment, which means all projects funded must support research primarily and directly for the benefit of people in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

For more information please contact:

Karen Fallen, Chief Executive Officer
Verna McErlane, Chief Commercial Officer
E: info@touchlight.com
T: +44 20 8481 9200

Hampton, UK, 23 July 2024

Touchlight, an innovation-driven CDMO pioneering enzymatic DNA production to enable the genetic medicine revolution, today announced a license agreement with GSK, a global leader in biopharmaceutical innovation. This agreement grants GSK non-exclusive rights to use Touchlight’s proprietary enzymatic dbDNA (doggybone DNA) technology for the development and production of mRNA-based products.

The license will enable GSK to access the leading technology for rapid and scalable GMP production of DNA, with the potential to accelerate substantially the production of multivalent mRNA vaccines, including for use against seasonal epidemics and pandemic threats. While financial terms of the agreement are undisclosed, the deal includes an upfront payment, ongoing technology access fees, clinical and regulatory milestone payments and royalties on GSK’s mRNA products manufactured with Touchlight’s enzymatic dbDNA.

Touchlight’s dbDNA technology can produce high-purity GMP DNA using an enzymatic process, offering a faster, more scalable alternative to traditional plasmid DNA production. dbDNA is particularly well suited for mRNA vaccine development, as it enables rapid and efficient production of the DNA templates required for mRNA synthesis.

In 2023 Touchlight brought online its state-of-the-art multi-kg production facility, and now has numerous client products that have implemented dbDNA for clinical development, including three with accepted IND/CTAs. In addition to being deployed as both a critical starting material for mRNA production and within AAV products, dbDNA will enter clinical development later in 2024 as an Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient for a therapeutic cancer vaccine, alongside multiple other anticipated INDs across various modalities.

About Touchlight

Touchlight is an innovation-driven leading CDMO pioneering enzymatic GMP DNA production to enable the genetic medicine revolution. As pioneers, with an FDA Drug Master File accepted in 2022 followed in 2025 with the world’s first cell-free DNA GMP license, Touchlight’s enzymatic DNA technology is on the cutting edge of AAV, mRNA, DNA vaccine, and gene editing technology with its state-of-the-art facility recognised by ISPE’s Facility of the Year Awards (FOYA) for Innovation.

With multiple client products already in the clinic, Touchlight’s evidence-based, synthetic DNA manufacturing solutions offer a scalable, sustainable alternative to plasmid DNA (pDNA) for all stages of pre-clinical, clinical and commercial development. The company and technology are built on the conviction that DNA is fundamental to the future of medicine. Traditional methods, based on bacterial fermentation, are slow, costly, and unable to meet the growing demands of genetic medicine due to limited scalability and speed. Founded in 2007, Touchlight’s team is inspired by breakthroughs in genetic medicine, recognising the urgent need for innovative DNA production techniques to support the future of genetic therapies.

About GSK

GSK is a global biopharma company with a purpose to unite science, technology, and talent to get ahead of disease together. Find out more at gsk.com.

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About Touchlight

Touchlight is a privately-owned CDMO based in London, U.K., focused on the provision of DNA services and manufacture of enzymatically produced doggybone DNA (dbDNA) to enable the development of genetic medicines. Touchlight provide rapid, enzymatic DNA development and manufacturing for all advanced therapy production, including mRNA, viral and non-viral gene therapy and DNA API. dbDNA is a minimal, linear, covalently closed structure, which eliminates bacterial sequences. Touchlight’s revolutionary enzymatic production platform enables unprecedented speed, scale, and the ability to target genes with a size and complexity that is impossible with current technologies. Clients can be supported from pre-clinical through development and supply, to licencing and tech transfer for use in-house.

For more information please contact:

Karen Fallen, Chief Executive Officer
Verna McErlane, Chief Commercial Officer
E: info@touchlight.com
T: +44 20 8481 9200

02 July, HAMPTON, United Kingdon and DÜSSELDORF, Germany – LenioBio, a biotech company pioneering cell-free protein production, and Touchlight, the leader in enzymatic DNA production, are pleased to announce a supply agreement aimed at leveraging the revolutionary capabilities of Touchlight’s rapid enzymatic doggybone DNA (dbDNA^TM), to achieve unprecedented speed in vaccine  development and manufacture in the context of LenioBio’s CEPI grant.

LenioBio’s recently announced CEPI-funded project aims to showcase the capacity of their proprietary plant-based, cell-free ALiCE® (Almost Living Cell-Free Expression) technology to significantly accelerate vaccine development. This initiative aligns with CEPI’s 100 Days Mission, to develop vaccines against novel pathogens within 100 days of a threat emerging. ALiCE® already has a proven track record producing vaccine-relevant proteins within just 48 hours, offering a substantial speed advantage over existing methods. However, ensuring a fast and reliable DNA supply – a crucial component for protein production – poses a critical challenge, especially in epidemic or pandemic situations. In this context, Touchlight’s dbDNA offers a game-changing solution, promising a rapid, scalable, superior and resilient cell-free alternative to traditional bacterial manufacturing methods.

dbDNA is a minimal, linear, double stranded, covalently closed DNA vector in the shape of a ‘doggybone’ produced using enzymatic manufacturing methods. Eliminating the need for traditional bacterial fermentation methods, dbDNA can be produced at GMP quality at unprecedented speed, scale and purity. By coupling of Touchlight’s enzymatic dbDNA with LenioBio’s cell-free protein production process, a seamless end-to-end manufacturing process for pandemic preparedness will be established.

About LenioBio GmbH

LenioBio is a life-science biotechnology firm dedicated advancing transformative technology for the discovery, development, and large-scale production of proteins, liberating the process from conventional limitations of cells. Pioneered by LenioBio, ALiCE® is an innovative eukaryotic protein expression platform that empowers scientists globally to accelerate the discovery and development of life-saving medicines and vaccines.

About Touchlight

Touchlight is an innovation-driven leading CDMO pioneering enzymatic GMP DNA production to enable the genetic medicine revolution. As pioneers, with an FDA Drug Master File accepted in 2022 followed in 2025 with the world’s first cell-free DNA GMP license, Touchlight’s enzymatic DNA technology is on the cutting edge of AAV, mRNA, DNA vaccine, and gene editing technology with its state-of-the-art facility recognised by ISPE’s Facility of the Year Awards (FOYA) for Innovation.

With multiple client products already in the clinic, Touchlight’s evidence-based, synthetic DNA manufacturing solutions offer a scalable, sustainable alternative to plasmid DNA (pDNA) for all stages of pre-clinical, clinical and commercial development. The company and technology are built on the conviction that DNA is fundamental to the future of medicine. Traditional methods, based on bacterial fermentation, are slow, costly, and unable to meet the growing demands of genetic medicine due to limited scalability and speed. Founded in 2007, Touchlight’s team is inspired by breakthroughs in genetic medicine, recognising the urgent need for innovative DNA production techniques to support the future of genetic therapies.

For more information please contact:

Karen Fallen, Chief Executive Officer
Verna McErlane, Chief Commercial Officer
E: info@touchlight.com
T: +44 20 8481 9200

As the development of genome editing technologies continues to gather pace, Touchlight has developed a novel, circular, single-stranded genome editing template known as MegaBulb DNA (mbDNA).    

Increasing clinical activity with genome edited products is leading to significant demand for safe, efficient and manufacturable non-viral nucleic acid templates for targeted genome insertions, to replace the need for viral vectors. Touchlight’s mbDNA shows low cellular toxicity and achieves high gene-length knock-in efficiencies, outperforming other non-viral technologies and rivalling viruses. mbDNA’s enzymatic manufacture, which leverages Touchlight’s established technologies & capabilities, allows for a robust and scalable process suitable for rapid development towards GMP production – and addresses a major bottleneck for non-viral gene therapy (NVGT) development. 

This funding will enable Touchlight, with the support of NPL, to comprehensively characterise mbDNA, develop relevant analytical methods, and rapidly scale up manufacture. The project will inform specific metrics for the performance attributes of mbDNA and manufacture, which will be assessed using NPL’s reference materials and procedures. The project results will facilitate a mechanism for more efficient ssDNA production through improving mbDNA’s manufacturability, as well as increasing the productivity and flexibility of Touchlight’s  already established GMP manufacturing process.   

This work will serve to expedite overall understanding of the manufacturing of novel nucleic acid platforms and be pivotal in advancing industry development within NVGT by rapidly making mbDNA widely available to the market. Additionally, advances will play an important role in establishing the UK as a global manufacturing hub for engineering biology, advanced therapies and genetic medicine. 

About Touchlight

Touchlight is an innovation-driven leading CDMO pioneering enzymatic GMP DNA production to enable the genetic medicine revolution. As pioneers, with an FDA Drug Master File accepted in 2022 followed in 2025 with the world’s first cell-free DNA GMP license, Touchlight’s enzymatic DNA technology is on the cutting edge of AAV, mRNA, DNA vaccine, and gene editing technology with its state-of-the-art facility recognised by ISPE’s Facility of the Year Awards (FOYA) for Innovation.

With multiple client products already in the clinic, Touchlight’s evidence-based, synthetic DNA manufacturing solutions offer a scalable, sustainable alternative to plasmid DNA (pDNA) for all stages of pre-clinical, clinical and commercial development. The company and technology are built on the conviction that DNA is fundamental to the future of medicine. Traditional methods, based on bacterial fermentation, are slow, costly, and unable to meet the growing demands of genetic medicine due to limited scalability and speed. Founded in 2007, Touchlight’s team is inspired by breakthroughs in genetic medicine, recognising the urgent need for innovative DNA production techniques to support the future of genetic therapies.

About NPL

NPL is the UK’s National Metrology Institute, providing the measurement capability that underpins the UK’s prosperity and quality of life. 

 From new antibiotics to tackle resistance and more effective cancer treatments, to secure quantum communications and superfast 5G, technological advances must be built on a foundation of reliable measurement to succeed. Building on over a century’s worth of expertise, our science, engineering and technology provides this foundation. We save lives, protect the environment and enable citizens to feel safe and secure, as well as support international trade and commercial innovation. As a national laboratory, our advice is always impartial and independent, meaning consumers, investors, policymakers and entrepreneurs can always rely on the work we do. 

Based in Teddington, south-west London, NPL employs over 600 scientists. NPL also has regional bases across the UK, including at the University of Surrey, the University of Strathclyde, the University of Cambridge and the University of Huddersfield’s 3M Buckley Innovation Centre. 

For more information visit: www.npl.co.uk     
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NPL   
Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/npldigital   
Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/national-physical-laboratory 

For more information please contact:

Karen Fallen, Chief Executive Officer
Verna McErlane, Chief Commercial Officer
E: info@touchlight.com
T: +44 20 8481 9200

Biobatteries use enzymes to generate electricity from the breakdown of complex fuels, such as carbohydrates, fatty acids and alcohols. The enzymes require proper immobilization and stabilization for optimal performance; DNA hydrogels are an attractive solution, however DNA scalability and cost has previously hindered this approach. Touchlight’s revolutionary “doggybone” DNA (dbDNA) platform offers DNA production capabilities at the scale and purity required to solve these issues.

Following successful proof of concept studies in the original grant from ONR and Dstl, Touchlight has been awarded an additional USD 0.7M to develop a biobattery prototype with real-world applicability – as well as to assess stability and portability via environmental testing.

These innovative biobatteries hold the promise of addressing critical challenges associated with conventional portable power sources, including limited energy storage capacity and environmental impact. By combining Touchlight’s proprietary enzymatic DNA amplification platform with the cutting edge biobattery research of Professor Shelley Minteer’s research group, this project aims to build on a successful foundation and continue to advance toward realising that promise.

The extended grant signifies a continued commitment to innovation and collaboration in pursuit of sustainable energy solutions.

About Touchlight

Touchlight is an innovation-driven leading CDMO pioneering enzymatic GMP DNA production to enable the genetic medicine revolution. As pioneers, with an FDA Drug Master File accepted in 2022 followed in 2025 with the world’s first cell-free DNA GMP license, Touchlight’s enzymatic DNA technology is on the cutting edge of AAV, mRNA, DNA vaccine, and gene editing technology with its state-of-the-art facility recognised by ISPE’s Facility of the Year Awards (FOYA) for Innovation.

With multiple client products already in the clinic, Touchlight’s evidence-based, synthetic DNA manufacturing solutions offer a scalable, sustainable alternative to plasmid DNA (pDNA) for all stages of pre-clinical, clinical and commercial development. The company and technology are built on the conviction that DNA is fundamental to the future of medicine. Traditional methods, based on bacterial fermentation, are slow, costly, and unable to meet the growing demands of genetic medicine due to limited scalability and speed. Founded in 2007, Touchlight’s team is inspired by breakthroughs in genetic medicine, recognising the urgent need for innovative DNA production techniques to support the future of genetic therapies.

For more information please contact:

Karen Fallen, Chief Executive Officer
Verna McErlane, Chief Commercial Officer
E: info@touchlight.com
T: +44 20 8481 9200

Hampton, UK – 3 April 2024 – Touchlight, a CDMO enabling the development of genetic medicines with its enzymatic doggybone DNA (dbDNA) technology, today announced an agreement with University of Liverpool for the use of dbDNA in the development of a fully-personalised therapeutic neoantigen DNA vaccine for patients with non-small cell lung cancer, to be given to patients at Clatterbridge Cancer Center, Liverpool.

Non-small cell lung cancer is the most common type of lung cancer, with almost 50,000 new diagnoses each year. It is the third most prevalent cancer in the UK and, globally, it is estimated that there were 2.2million new cases in 2020 alone.

The University of Liverpool researchers will be conducting a clinical trial that involves making a personalised cancer vaccine for each patient. The approach is designed to train the patient’s own immune system by targeting mutations in patients’ individual cancer and support patients who have not had sufficient benefit from standard immunotherapy.

Touchlight’s dbDNA technology produces a minimal, linear, double stranded, covalently closed DNA vector through an enzymatic manufacturing process.

dbDNA technology can deliver high purity GMP DNA in a small footprint at unprecedented speed and is ideally positioned to enable rapid individual personalised vaccines to cancer patients.

About Touchlight

Touchlight is an innovation-driven leading CDMO pioneering enzymatic GMP DNA production to enable the genetic medicine revolution. As pioneers, with an FDA Drug Master File accepted in 2022 followed in 2025 with the world’s first cell-free DNA GMP license, Touchlight’s enzymatic DNA technology is on the cutting edge of AAV, mRNA, DNA vaccine, and gene editing technology with its state-of-the-art facility recognised by ISPE’s Facility of the Year Awards (FOYA) for Innovation.

With multiple client products already in the clinic, Touchlight’s evidence-based, synthetic DNA manufacturing solutions offer a scalable, sustainable alternative to plasmid DNA (pDNA) for all stages of pre-clinical, clinical and commercial development. The company and technology are built on the conviction that DNA is fundamental to the future of medicine. Traditional methods, based on bacterial fermentation, are slow, costly, and unable to meet the growing demands of genetic medicine due to limited scalability and speed. Founded in 2007, Touchlight’s team is inspired by breakthroughs in genetic medicine, recognising the urgent need for innovative DNA production techniques to support the future of genetic therapies.

For more information please contact:

Karen Fallen, Chief Executive Officer
Verna McErlane, Chief Commercial Officer
E: info@touchlight.com
T: +44 20 8481 9200

CPI, a leading technology innovation centre in the UK, has selected Touchlight to supply research and GMP-grade enzymatic DNA for the development and manufacture of RNA therapeutics and vaccines. With Touchlight’s dbDNA platform already used in two clinical studies as a critical starting material for mRNA production, Touchlight will contribute its expertise and cutting-edge technology to facilitate the development and scale-up of novel RNA therapeutics.

The selection of Touchlight as a supplier for enzymatic DNA underscores the company’s reputation for delivering high-quality DNA across applications in the genetic medicines industry, including in viral vector production, mRNA, genome editing and DNA vaccines. Touchlight’s dbDNA offers unparalleled advantages in terms of scalability, quality, and safety, making it an ideal choice to enable CPI’s RNA Centre of Excellence.

About CPI

We’re a pioneering social enterprise that accelerates the development, scale-up and commercialisation of smart AgriFoodTech, energy storage, HealthTech, materials, and pharma innovations. Through our incredible innovation experts and infrastructure, we look beyond the obvious to transform healthcare and drive towards a sustainable future.

Developing next-generation medicine manufacturing innovations to deliver tomorrow’s vaccines and therapeutics. We offer world-leading facilities and expertise in small molecules, biologics, oligonucleotides, and complex medicines to accelerate drug development and scale-up. We host the largest pool of RNA biomanufacturing experts in the UK and offer complementary drug delivery systems like lipid nanoparticles.

We’re creating agile, efficient, and sustainable supply chains by convening actors across the pharma industry ecosystem in a pre-competitive space and boosting the adoption of industry 4.0 advanced processes and digitisation.

As a trusted partner of industry, academia, government, entrepreneurs, and the investment community, we connect the dots within the innovation ecosystem to make great ideas and inventions a reality. We believe by working together we can build a better collective future, and as part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, we facilitate access to world-class organisations to deliver transformation across industries and landscapes. Creating lasting global impact from the North of England and Scotland, we invest in people and disruptive technologies to invigorate economies, create circular supply chains and make our world a better place.

About Touchlight

Touchlight is an innovation-driven leading CDMO pioneering enzymatic GMP DNA production to enable the genetic medicine revolution. As pioneers, with an FDA Drug Master File accepted in 2022 followed in 2025 with the world’s first cell-free DNA GMP license, Touchlight’s enzymatic DNA technology is on the cutting edge of AAV, mRNA, DNA vaccine, and gene editing technology with its state-of-the-art facility recognised by ISPE’s Facility of the Year Awards (FOYA) for Innovation.

With multiple client products already in the clinic, Touchlight’s evidence-based, synthetic DNA manufacturing solutions offer a scalable, sustainable alternative to plasmid DNA (pDNA) for all stages of pre-clinical, clinical and commercial development. The company and technology are built on the conviction that DNA is fundamental to the future of medicine. Traditional methods, based on bacterial fermentation, are slow, costly, and unable to meet the growing demands of genetic medicine due to limited scalability and speed. Founded in 2007, Touchlight’s team is inspired by breakthroughs in genetic medicine, recognising the urgent need for innovative DNA production techniques to support the future of genetic therapies.

For more information please contact:

Karen Fallen, Chief Executive Officer
Verna McErlane, Chief Commercial Officer
E: info@touchlight.com
T: +44 20 8481 9200

Hampton, UK – 21 November 2023 – Touchlight, a CDMO enabling the development of genetic medicines with its enzymatic doggybone DNA (dbDNA) technology, today announced that the Company has used its proprietary dbDNA as a critical starting material for manufacturing of VMB-100, a potency enhanced messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) encoding human insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) to support Versameb’s first-in-human clinical study to treat chronic stress urinary incontinence (SUI).

Following the recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s clearance of its Investigational New Drug (IND) application, Versameb plans to launch a Phase 2a open label, first-in-human dose ascending study of VMB-100 in the first half of 2024.

This FDA clearance represents a further milestone for Touchlight’s enzymatic dbDNA and follows the prior announcement from February 2023 of the first client adopting dbDNA for clinical development in the US. This IND marks the third product to enter clinical development using the dbDNA platform, further demonstrating its regulatory adoption in both the US and Europe. Touchlight’s enzymatic DNA platform is the first such platform to have a Drug Master File (DMF) accepted by the FDA, enabling a simple option for clients adopting the dbDNA platform.

Touchlight’s patented dbDNA technology produces a minimal, linear, double stranded, covalently closed DNA vector through an enzymatic manufacturing process. dbDNA is uniquely positioned for the rapid, synthetic, and scalable manufacture of GMP DNA using a small, simple footprint. The technology can manufacture genes of interest of more than 20kb and accommodate sequences typically unstable as plasmid DNA in E. coli, such as those found in viral vector and mRNA production.

About Touchlight

Touchlight is an innovation-driven leading CDMO pioneering enzymatic GMP DNA production to enable the genetic medicine revolution. As pioneers, with an FDA Drug Master File accepted in 2022 followed in 2025 with the world’s first cell-free DNA GMP license, Touchlight’s enzymatic DNA technology is on the cutting edge of AAV, mRNA, DNA vaccine, and gene editing technology with its state-of-the-art facility recognised by ISPE’s Facility of the Year Awards (FOYA) for Innovation.

With multiple client products already in the clinic, Touchlight’s evidence-based, synthetic DNA manufacturing solutions offer a scalable, sustainable alternative to plasmid DNA (pDNA) for all stages of pre-clinical, clinical and commercial development. The company and technology are built on the conviction that DNA is fundamental to the future of medicine. Traditional methods, based on bacterial fermentation, are slow, costly, and unable to meet the growing demands of genetic medicine due to limited scalability and speed. Founded in 2007, Touchlight’s team is inspired by breakthroughs in genetic medicine, recognising the urgent need for innovative DNA production techniques to support the future of genetic therapies.

For more information please contact:

Karen Fallen, Chief Executive Officer
Verna McErlane, Chief Commercial Officer
E: info@touchlight.com
T: +44 20 8481 9200