About Us

What we do

Barinthus Biotherapeutics plc (formerly Vaccitech plc) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel T cell immunotherapeutics that guide the immune system to overcome chronic infectious diseases, autoimmunity and cancer.

Our values are embodied in our name

Leading the way with a passion for science embodies everything we do at Barinthus Biotherapeutics – even our new name. Barinthus was the name of the mythological navigator who guided the legendary King Arthur of Britain by ship to the island of Avalon to be healed after he was wounded.

Like Barinthus, our company aims to be a strong and resilient guide, navigating those that rely on us toward better health. In this most important journey, our vessel is the power of science and our expertise to harness it in directing the immune system to help people overcome chronic infectious diseases, autoimmunity, and cancer.

While our eyes are keenly focused on moving science forward, we also draw inspiration from the past. Aligning the name of our company with an Arthurian legend is a nod to our rich UK-based history as a dedicated steward of science and unwavering champion of patients. If the past is prologue for the future, then we proudly embrace the values and technological approach that continue to be the hallmark and fabric of our company – now more than ever as we blaze on as Barinthus Biotherapeutics.

The company stands apart through its broad pipeline, built around threeproprietary platform technologies; ChAdOx, MVA, SNAP. These platforms are enabling the company to develop antigen-specific immunotherapeutics that aim to optimize the disease-fighting capabilities of T cells and guide them towards a healthy balance. This is achieved through increasing disease specific CD8 T cell activity in the case of infectious diseases and cancers, or dampening CD4 and CD8 T cells, and increasing T Regulatory cells in autoimmunity.

Barinthus Biotherapeutics is backed by leading investment institutions, including M&G, Tencent, Gilead Sciences, GV (formerly Google Ventures), Sequoia Capital China, Liontrust (formerly Neptune), Korea Investment Partners and Oxford Science Enterprises.