Trapping brain cancer: Why Zinc is backing Migration BioTherapeutics

Glioblastoma is one of the most devastating diagnoses in modern medicine.

With approximately just 1 in 20 patients surviving over five years and typical survival measured in months, not years, it remains stubbornly resistant to decades of scientific effort. Surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy have advanced incrementally for other tumours, but for Glioblastoma recurrence is almost inevitable. 

At Zinc, this challenge is not abstract. Two deeply valued members of our team have been diagnosed with glioblastoma in the past eight years. One we lost far too soon. Another continues to live courageously with the disease. Their journeys have crystallised our belief that glioblastoma is not only a complex scientific challenge, it is a profoundly human one. It demands urgency, investment and new ways of thinking.

This is why we are proud to back the team at Migration BioTherapeutics.

A new way to think about brain cancer

Most cancer treatments aim to kill tumour cells. Migration is taking a different approach: redirecting them.

Glioblastoma is so lethal not simply because of the main tumour mass, but because of what surgeons cannot see. Even after the most skilled surgery, microscopic cancer cells infiltrate healthy brain tissue. These migratory cells spread along nerve fibres and blood vessels, embedding themselves beyond the reach of the scalpel, meaning over 90% of tumours recur.

The premise of Migration BioTherapeutics’ innovation is simple and counterintuitive: If migration is what makes glioblastoma so deadly, can we turn that behaviour against the disease?

The team is developing ALIGHT™, a surgically implanted medical device placed into the tumour cavity immediately after resection. Rather than allowing cancer cells to disperse into healthy brain tissue, the implant acts as a preferred pathway, attracting and guiding migratory cells into a confined and controllable location.

Migration’s overarching philosophy is “cell biology as a therapy.” By relocalising these infiltrative cells, ALIGHT aims to give existing treatments – surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy – a much greater chance of success. The vision is ambitious: to shift glioblastoma from a diffuse, untreatable disease into one that can be controlled, and potentially cured, through combination therapy.

Why Now?

For decades, progress in glioblastoma has been limited. The standard drug, temozolomide, extends survival by only a few months for some patients, and many promising therapeutic targets have failed to translate into meaningful outcomes.

We are now seeing parallel advances in:

• High-content imaging
• Patient-derived tumour models
• Biomaterials and electrospinning
• 3D organoid systems
• In silico modelling

Which have converged to make it possible to design and test devices that mimic and redirect cellular behaviour with precision.

Their recently published peer-reviewed research in Nature Scientific Reports demonstrates capability to quantify glioblastoma cell movements on neural structures. This also provides a critical benchmark to understanding how fast and how far tumour cells move, in order to outperform it with Migration’s proprietary substrate.

The right team for this complex problem

Hard problems require experienced founders with deep domain expertise. Migration is led by:

Peter Bannister, CEO: a chartered engineer and MBA by training with two decades of experience across medical devices, imaging, regulatory strategy and commercialisation, including taking novel surgical technologies through the FDA.

Davide Danovi, CSO: a medical doctor and cell biologist, formerly a senior academic at King’s College London and now affiliated with Cambridge, with deep expertise in patient-derived glioblastoma models.

Their partnership began on the cross-sector life sciences leadership programme of the Academy of Medical Sciences, FLIER, where they discovered complementary strengths, a common passion for imaging and a shared frustration with incrementalism in brain cancer.

Unlike many early-stage biotech founders, Peter and Davide bring extensive senior operational experience. They understand regulatory pathways, reimbursement strategy, IP development and partnership dynamics – not as theoretical concepts, but through decades of lived experience.

They have also attracted world-class global leadership. The company’s Chair, Alan Ezrin PhD, is a US-based serial life science entrepreneur and investor with deep expertise in neuro-oncology. Alan led the development and FDA approval of 5-ALA, the fluorescence-guided surgical aid now widely used in glioblastoma surgery, and previously designed the world’s largest glioblastoma outcomes trial at Duke University. His experience bringing innovations into neurosurgical practice, and his extensive network across leading US clinical centres, provides invaluable guidance as Migration prepares its path to the clinic.

Also joining the board is Emilie Syed, Investment Principal at Zinc. Emilie holds a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Hamburg, an MBA from Warwick Business School and has a decade of experience in building, scaling and investing in early stage health ventures.

Building a scalable commercial opportunity

While glioblastoma is classified as a rare disease, it represents a concentrated and well-defined surgical market. In the US alone:

• ~10,000 patients per year undergo surgery for glioblastoma
• Most procedures occur within a small number of highly networked medical centres
• Reimbursement exists for adjunctive technologies priced between $50,000–$240,000

Crucially, ALIGHT is designed to integrate seamlessly into existing surgical workflows. It complements, rather than competes with, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and emerging therapeutics. Their approach to reverse-engineering the cell biology of disease can also be applied to other cancers, as well as regenerative medicine. 

From day one the team has designed ALIGHT to enhance, not compete with the standard of care and are committed to developing partnerships with both surgical and pharmaceutical innovators to jointly bring about meaningfully-improved patient outcomes.

The journey to success

Migration has already hit significant milestones:

• Peer-reviewed publication establishing migration benchmarks
• National Physical Laboratory’s Metrology for Business grant supporting advanced analysis of materials based on cell movement
• Development of proprietary fibre materials capable of attracting patient-derived glioblastoma cells in vitro
• Advancement from 2D proof-of-concept into 3D device prototyping
• Patent filing on core technology
• Early engagement with leading US clinical centres
• A clear roadmap toward preclinical validation and first-in-human trials

With Zinc’s backing, the company is now accelerating device prototyping, material optimisation and preclinical testing, with the goal of reaching the clinic within three years.

Why Zinc is backing Migration BioTherapeutics

Zinc invests in Science-for-Impact ventures tackling some of the hardest health and social challenges of our time. Migration embodies what we look for:

• A deeply unmet need
• A bold, industry-shifting approach
• Founders with complementary strengths and lived operational experience
• A credible path to commercial sustainability
• The potential for outsized impact

This investment is also personal for us. Glioblastoma has touched our team in ways that have made the statistics painfully real. We believe innovation in this space is not optional, it is critical.

Migration’s vision is powerful: to methodically build a new tool that could meaningfully change outcomes in one of medicine’s most devastating diseases. Their goal is to help transform glioblastoma from a near-certain recurrence into a controllable condition and, one day, perhaps a curable one – and the Zinc team is proud to be part of that journey.