Harwell is home to world-leading national research facilities and dynamic partnerships with commercial biotech organisations that are driving groundbreaking therapeutic breakthroughs. Together, they’re delivering innovative, life-changing medicines to help patients live healthier, better lives.

One of those facilities is Harwell’s Nucleic Acid Therapy Accelerator (NATA), where cutting-edge research is pushing the boundaries of medicine. Professor Nick Lench, Executive Director of NATA, explains their transformative approach.

“Unlike conventional treatments that target proteins, the research we do here at NATA looks at how nucleic acid therapeutics target the genetic blueprint of a condition to achieve long-term or curative effects.”

This is crucial, given the significant unmet medical need posed by serious diseases like motor neuron disease (MND) and certain cancers, which remain untreatable with traditional therapies. Nucleic acid therapies offer new hope but face challenges in manufacturing and targeted delivery to specific tissues and organs.

NATA’s mission is clear: to accelerate the development of these advanced treatments and turn groundbreaking research into real-world patient outcomes. Its collaborative approach is central to this mission. “Having such a diverse mix of national research facilities at Harwell which includes NATA enables organisations to conduct ground-breaking research and gain access to some of the most powerful scientific equipment in the world , making Harwell a truly inspiring place to work – but one with practical and commercial benefits too.”

One recent example of this collaborative power is NATA’s partnership with ARIZ Precision Medicine, a pioneering American biotech company. By combining NATA’s expertise in nucleic acid therapy design with ARIZ’s leading RNAi compound, this collaboration tackles one of the biggest hurdles in the field: ensuring therapies reach the right cells at the right time while avoiding harm to healthy tissue.

The benefits are transformative. For ARIZ, NATA provides a clear development pathway for its portfolio, while ARIZ helps overcome key delivery challenges for nucleic acid therapies. Most importantly, this scientific partnership fuels innovation, advancing novel techniques to tackle previously untreatable cancers—offering new hope for patients worldwide.

Since its inception, NATA has collaborated with numerous organisations, including Epilepsy UK to develop long-term treatments for the condition and Precision Life to launch a ground breaking motor neuron disease and ALS drug program. It has also provided over £14 million in funding to two university-led consortia, boosting the UK’s capabilities in delivery platforms and manufacturing for advanced therapies.

NATA’s work is part of Harwell’s thriving Health Tech Cluster, a vibrant community of over 78 organisations addressing global health challenges. From medtech and biotech to medical imaging and cell and gene therapy, the Health Tech Cluster is answering some of today’s most pressing questions about human health.

With its world-class facilities, ground breaking collaborations, and commitment to innovation, Harwell is not just advancing medicine—it’s shaping the future of healthcare.