Bath Drug Discovery Spinout Wins National Emerging Technologies Competition

Revolver Therapeutics, a University of Bath spin-out building a new class of drug discovery tools, has won the Health category of the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Emerging Technologies Competition 2026. The Royal Society of Chemistry’s annual contest highlights early-stage UK deep-tech chemistry, and this year the Health award went to the company for its cell-based approach to finding medicines for hard-to-treat diseases.

The judging panel, spanning academic scientists, industry specialists, entrepreneurs, and investors, selected the winning pitches at the final held at Burlington House in London on 21 July. Revolver’s win reflects both the novelty of its platform and the translational potential of its therapeutic strategy.

At the centre of Revolver’s work is the challenge of “undruggable” targets, including transcription factors—proteins that regulate gene expression and are implicated in multiple cancers. Conventional small-molecule or biologic modalities often struggle to modulate such intracellular regulators, leaving many disease-driving mechanisms beyond the reach of traditional drug discovery.

Revolver’s platform focuses on peptide therapeutics designed to function inside living cells. Instead of relying solely on biochemical screens, the company generates and evaluates vast libraries of constrained peptide candidates directly in a cellular context. This matters because candidate behaviour can shift dramatically when moving from purified assays to the cellular environment where folding, stability, and functional engagement determine outcomes.

A key element of the platform is the use of constrained peptide designs, which aim to promote the structural features needed for activity while improving drug-like properties. Candidates are selected early for their ability to switch off disease-driving transcription factor activity in cells, turning functional readouts into the basis for discovery decisions.

The competition prize includes a share of a £50,000 total pot, along with support, feedback, and opportunities for increased visibility. Revolver specifically received £10,000, intended to generate additional validation data to support future partnering discussions.

Founder Professor Jody Mason said the award is external validation of the intracellular constrained peptide discovery platform and its potential to open new treatment routes for aggressive cancers driven by intracellular proteins.

Funding comes from investors QantX, UKI2S, o2h, and the University of Bath, with the broader team supported by academic and commercial collaborators across the University of Bath network.