About us

Camena Bioscience is a synthetic biology company born out of ideas from Cambridge and Pasadena.

Our mission is to be the leading provider of synthetic DNA.

People discussing topics at Camena Bioscience

25 employees

Expanding team supported by industry leading advisors and Board of Directors.

Cambridge, UK

Laboratories and business operations headquartered in Cambridge.

Global customer base

The world's leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

2016

Camena is incorporated and Cambridge labs are opened.
2017

Camena files first DNA synthesis patent applications.
2019

gSynth® enzymatic technology breakthrough, demonstrating increased synthesis accuracy and ability to produce long, complex, DNA sequences.
2020

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2021

Camena expands, building first gene synthesis production lab in Cambridge. Begins sales of complex, multi-gene sequences to big pharma and synbio companies.
2022

Camena secures a major contract with strategic gene synthesis consumer.
2023

Rapid growth due to increasing demand from strategic customers.

Camena closes a $10m A-round of financing.
2023

Scale-up via automation programme, achieving technical milestones of multi-kb throughput per day
2026

Move to Sidney Sidney building, consolidating operations into a single, fully-fitted laboratory and office space.

Third wave of innovation

**The invention of next-generation sequencing transformed our ability to read DNA, and CRISPR-Cas gene editing simplified our ability to edit it.**

An ambitious vision was formed to enable researchers to write DNA with the same confidence and ease with which they can read and edit it.

The gSynth® platform brings a new era of DNA synthesis.

Our technology

Steve CEO & Co-founder Steve has a background in life sciences technology development, has authored publications in leading scientific journals, and has developed patented DNA synthesis technology. He obtained his PhD from University College London while at the National Institute for Medical Research.
Derek CSO & Co-founder Derek is a world renowned molecular biologist, with over 100 scientific publications and 20 patents. He has a PhD from the California Institute of Technology. In 1999 Derek co-founded TwistDX, which was acquired by Alere and is now an active subsidiary of Abbott.
Aditya Board Chair Aditya is an experienced biotechnology inventor and executive. He is the Founder, CTO, and Board Director at ChromaCode, Inc. and also co-founder and Executive Chairman of Esperto Medical. He is faculty at USC and Caltech, and has a BS, MS and PhD qualifications from the California Institute of Technology.
Philip Board member Philip is Director of Engineering at Google Research, where he founded Google Accelerated Science, focusing on breakthrough applications in natural sciences. His work spans medical imaging, microscopy, and chemistry, with publications in JAMA and Cell. Previously, he founded Anteros (acquired by Google), served as CTO at Complete Genomics, and was technical founder of Verity, a market leader in enterprise search applications.
James R VP, R&D James started his career in short oligonucleotide synthesis and point-of-care diagnostic assays following a PhD. in DNA Chemistry from the University of Southampton. He then went on to spend the next ten years developing next-generation sequencing technologies, spanning multiple product launches and large-scale sequencing initiatives.
Elaine VP, Chief of Staff Elaine has executive experience at AIM and NASDAQ listed biotechs. She was formerly Business Unit Head at Horizon Discovery (now Revvity) and Head of eCommerce at Abcam. She transitioned both through significant growth, organic and acquired. Elaine has worked as a business consultant and CMO, and has an MBA from Warwick Business School.
Nagesh Board member Nagesh is a distinguished biotechnology entrepreneur. He was the founding CEO of Scholar Rock Inc., taking the company to a successful IPO. Prior to that he was a founding employee of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and co-founded TwistDx. Nagesh has a PhD from the California Institute of Technology.
Liz Head of People Liz is a strategic HR Director with over 25 years of experience leading teams in the UK, Europe and Emerging Markets. She was previously HR Director for Danaher Corporation, AspenTech Inc., and Novartis. She now works as a consultant, providing support to Chief Execs and Board members.
James A Principal Software Engineer James is a bioinformatician with broad experience in database design, pipeline development, and mathematical modeling. He worked on the Ensembl project at EMBL-EBI (European Bioinformatics Institute), and at Cambridge University. He has a PhD in Bioinformatics from the University of Manchester.
Scott Scientific Advisor Scott is a world expert in biophysics and imaging. He is currently the University of Southern California Elizabeth Garrett Chair in Convergent Bioscience, and Vice President of Science Grant Programs at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. He was a co-founder of Clinical Micro Sensors and has been an advisor to numerous companies including Amersham, GE Health and Zeiss Micro Imaging.
Simon Research Associate Prior to joining Camena Simon worked in emergency healthcare for 12 years, including at Addenbrookes CUH biochemistry lab. Simon completed his BSc in Biomedical Science at Anglia Ruskin University.
Rachel Scientist Rachel joined the Camena team in 2023 after 11 years in DMPK, in a high-throughput drug discovery laboratory. Rachel's scientific career began via an apprenticeship, initially studying towards a BTEC Level 3 in Applied Science and upon its successful completion, a BTEC Level 4 HNC in Biological Science for Industry.
Jackson Research Associate Originally from California, Jackson has returned to the UK where he previously obtained a MSc in Synthetic Biology from the University of Edinburgh.
Maria Principal Scientist Maria started her career as a molecular biologist and completed her PhD in Biomedicine from Aarhus University in Denmark. She moved to Cambridge to continue her postdoctoral career, developing next-generation sequencing technologies for single-cell immune profiling and antibody discovery campaigns.
Aldo Senior Scientist Aldo obtained a Master's Degree in Biotechnology from Columbia University, focusing in molecular biology and genomics. Following his Master's degree, he worked on the development of novel NGS library preparation methods to identify binding sites of RNA binding proteins. More recently, Aldo was involved in the development of molecular diagnostic reference materials for use in both the oncology and prenatal clinical settings.
Clara Senior Scientist Clara completed her BSc and MSc in Brazil and France and moved to Manchester 5 years ago to do her PhD in Synthetic Biology.
Sophie Research Associate Sophie is a research scientist within the Foundry Team. She previously worked in the Genetics lab in Addenbrookes, working on the diagnosis and monitoring of blood cancers and organ transplants, and before that, spent some time in the forensics sector.
Jan Board Member Jan is an Investment Manager at Mercia Ventures. He has broad industry experience and has supported owner-managed, equity-backed and large listed businesses across the UK and internationally. Prior to joining Mercia, Jan qualified as a Chartered Accountant with EY. He holds a BA in Economics, an MA in International Politics and completed the legal conversion course.