Orchard Therapeutics Ltd., of London, launched with a £21 million (US$30.5 million) series A round led by F-Prime Capital. The company also inked partnerships with University College London, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, the University of Manchester, the University of California, Los Angeles, and Boston Children's Hospital for the development of gene therapies for serious and life-threatening orphan diseases. Orchard's development programs focus on the potential of ex vivo autologous hematopoietic stem cell gene therapy to restore normal gene function in primary immune deficiencies, metabolic diseases and hematological disorders. The lead candidate, a lentiviral stem cell gene therapy, is in development for severe combined immunodeficiency caused by adenosine deaminase deficiency.