Acquisition Opportunity
Hilco is seeking offers to acquire the intellectual property and tangible assets of CHAIN Biotechnology Limited (“CHAIN Biotech” or the “Company”) on behalf of the Proposed Liquidators of the Company, Rebecca Dacre and Kyle Ashford of Forvis Mazars LLP.
Background
Founded in 2014, CHAIN Biotech is a UK-based biotechnology company developing next-generation microbiome therapeutics. Operating at the forefront of the live biotherapeutics space, the Company has built a proprietary platform using engineered Clostridium bacteria to deliver therapeutic molecules directly to the lower gastrointestinal tract. Drawing on expertise in synthetic biology, anaerobic microbiology and drug delivery, CHAIN Biotech addresses one of the key challenges in modern biologics: achieving effective, targeted delivery to the gut.
The Company’s core innovation is its Clostridium Assisted Drug Delivery (CADD) platform, which enables therapeutics to be administered orally as engineered bacterial spores that survive the stomach and activate in the colon, producing treatment directly at the site of action. This offers an alternative to conventional treatment, which typically rely on systemic delivery and complex cold-chain logistics. By enabling localised, in situ production, the Company’s platform has the potential to improve efficacy, reduce side effects, and significantly lower manufacturing and distribution costs, with applications spanning both microbiome-targeted therapies and next-generation cancer immunotherapies. More recently, the Company’s platform has been advanced into the field of cancer immunotherapy and the oral delivery of therapeutic vaccines, focused on the development of engineered bacterial strains capable of expressing tumour-associated antigens, with pre-clinical studies demonstrating antigen-specific immune activation and reduction in tumour growth, supporting the potential of the platform in oncology applications.
Available Assets
The CHAIN Biotech Brand
The CHAIN Biotech brand has established itself as an emerging innovator within the microbiome therapeutics and live biotherapeutics space. Built around a mission to address the challenges of targeted drug delivery, the brand is associated with a differentiated, science-led approach to oral biologics and in situ therapeutic production.
Through a combination of academic collaborations, grant-backed development programmes, and industry engagement, the brand has built credibility within the biotech and synthetic biology ecosystem. The brand is recognised as an innovator in the space by leading institutions including the University of Oxford, Oxford Vacmedix and the German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ), positioning CHAIN Biotech as a credible player in the development of next-generation microbiome-based therapies.
The brand has also gained visibility through sector-focused press coverage, research initiatives, and participation in innovation programmes, and was a finalist in the IChemE Global Awards in 2016. These activities, alongside the ongoing development of the CADD platform, have reinforced CHAIN’s positioning as a technically credible and forward-looking player within a rapidly evolving market.
Acquiring the CHAIN Biotech brand offers potential acquirers a platform for expansion into high-growth therapeutic areas, supported by the scientific credibility, industry engagement, and early-stage recognition the brand has established within the microbiome and drug delivery landscape.
Trade Marks
The Company likely holds rights in unregistered trade marks protecting the “CHAIN” and “CHAIN Biotech” brand names and logos.
Patents and Know-How
CHAIN Biotech holds a portfolio of granted patents and active patent applications supported by a substantial body of proprietary technical know-how centred on two complementary patent families, each targeting distinct but related therapeutic applications.
The Company’s first patent family relates to the delivery of 3-hydroxybutyrate to the lower gastrointestinal tract using engineered Clostridium bacteria. This patent family is widely granted across multiple jurisdictions and focused on the treatment of inflammatory and gut-related conditions, as well as broader probiotic and microbiome applications. Addressing key challenges in delivering metabolically active compounds directly to the gut, these patents have potential applications across gastrointestinal disease, metabolic disorders, and microbiome modulation. Further, the Company’s second patent family is focused on the use of the Company’s CADD platform for the oral delivery of therapeutic vaccines, especially cancer immunotherapies. This patent family includes a granted US patent and associated, near grant, filings in amongst others Europe, China and Japan. It covers the expression of tumour-associated antigens from engineered bacterial strains, enabling localised mucosal immune, and systemic, activation. CHAIN Biotech’s portfolio reflects the Company’s more recent development focus and positions the platform within the rapidly growing field of cancer immunotherapy, with potential applicability across vaccine delivery and targeted immune modulation.
Supporting these patent families is a substantial body of proprietary know-how developed over several years of R&D, including expertise in anaerobic bacterial strain engineering, gene expression optimisation, fermentation processes, and the development of spore-based delivery systems capable of surviving gastric transit and activating in the colon. The Company also holds valuable experimental data, laboratory protocols, and process methodologies, including insights into therapeutic delivery, immune response, and strain performance. The Company’s know-how is critical to the practical implementation and scalability of the platform and would be difficult and time-consuming to replicate.
Together, the patent portfolio and associated know-how provide a cohesive and transferable technology platform, offering acquirers exposure to both microbiome-focused therapeutics and emerging oncology applications, with a clear pathway for further development and commercialisation.
Domain Names and Website Content
The Company holds the primary chainbiotech.com domain name, which is available to acquire.
The Company likely holds the copyright in the content hosted on its website, which presents its CADD platform, underlying technologies, and their potential therapeutic applications.
Social Media Accounts
Rights in social media accounts are also available to acquire across LinkedIn and Twitter.
Full details on the Company’s social media accounts are available via a virtual data room.
Strain Collection & Associated Tangible Assets
The opportunity includes CHAIN Biotech’s proprietary collection of engineered bacterial strains, which sit at the core of its CADD platform and underpin its approach to microbiome-based therapeutic delivery, representing a key component of the offering.
In addition to the biological assets, the opportunity also includes a range of laboratory and office equipment used in the development and testing of the Company’s technology, providing potential acquirers with the option to acquire both the intellectual property and the supporting development infrastructure in a single, integrated transaction.
University of Nottingham Licence Disclaimer
Certain elements of the Company’s technology have been developed using ACE (Allele-Coupled Exchange) technology, which is owned by the University of Nottingham. The Company has historically utilised this technology under a non-exclusive research licence agreement. The licence does not grant ownership of the underlying patents or know-how and does not permit sub-licensing. Any purchaser of the Company’s assets wishing to continue use of, or commercialise, technology derived from the ACE platform may need to enter into a separate agreement with the University of Nottingham. No representation is made regarding the scope, duration, or transferability of the licensed rights. Interested parties are advised to conduct their own enquiries.
Patent Assignment Disclaimer (Oxford University Innovation)
Certain elements of the Company’s intellectual property, including aspects of the oncology-focused patent family, have been assigned to CHAIN Biotechnology Limited by Oxford University Innovation Limited pursuant to a formal assignment agreement. The assignment provides the Company with ownership of the relevant patent rights, subject to ongoing commercial obligations, including milestone payments and revenue-sharing arrangements linked to future development and commercialisation activities. Oxford University Innovation and the University retain certain non-commercial rights to use the underlying technology for academic and research purposes. No representation is made regarding the scope, duration, or economic impact of these arrangements. Interested parties are advised to conduct their own enquiries.
