| Share-based compensation (Tables)
 | 12 Months Ended | 
| Dec. 31, 2023 | 
|---|
| Share-based compensation |  | 
| Summary of share-based compensation expense included in the consolidated statements of operations | The following table shows the total share-based compensation expense included in the Consolidated Statements of Operations (in thousands): 
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  
|  | Year ended  |  | Year ended  |  | Year ended |  
|  | December 31,  |  | December 31,  |  | December 31,  |  
|  | 2023 |      | 2022 |      | 2021 |  
| Research and development | $ |  3,061 |  | $ |  6,264 |  | $ |  9,052 |  
| General and administrative |   |  8,712 |  |   |  11,976 |  |   |  11,577 |  
|  | $ |  11,773 |  | $ |  18,240 |  | $ |  20,629 |  | 
| Summary of information about share options granted | 
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  
|  | Year ended  |  
|  | December 31,  |  
|  | 2023 |      | 2022 |  | 2021 |  
| Number of options over ordinary shares granted |  | 60,891,430 |  |  | 31,826,293 |  |  | 21,300,998 |  
| Weighted average fair value of ordinary shares options | $ | 0.12 |  | $ | 0.37 |  | $ | 0.70 |  
| Number of additional options with a nominal exercise price granted |  | 27,375,252 |  |  | 24,248,424 |  |  | 17,765,778 |  
| Weighted average fair value of options with a nominal exercise price  | $ | 0.27 |  | $ | 0.51 |  | $ | 0.97 |  | 
| Summary of all stock option activity |  The following table summarizes all stock option activity for the year ended December 31, 2023: 
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  
|  |      |  |      |  |      |  |      |  |  |  
|  |  |  |  | Weighted |  | Average |  |  |  
|  |  |  |  | average |  | remaining |  | Aggregate |  
|  |  |  |  | exercise price |  | contractual |  | intrinsic value |  
|  |  | Options |  | per option |  | term (years) |  | (thousands) |  
| Outstanding at January 1, 2023 |   |  152,539,089 |  | £ |  0.44 |  |  |  |  |  |  
| Changes during the period: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  
| Granted |   |  88,266,682 |  | £ |  0.26 |  |  |  |  |  |  
| Exercised |  |  (14,614,410) |  | £ |  0.01 |  |  |  |  |  |  
| Expired |  |  (14,916,414) |  | £ |  0.54 |  |  |  |  |  |  
| Forfeited |   |  (20,124,772) |  | £ |  0.18 |  |  |  |  |  |  
| Outstanding at December 31, 2023 |   |  191,150,175 |  | £ |  0.41 |   |  6.4 |  | £ |  4,601 |  
| Exercisable at December 31, 2023 |   |  111,671,247 |  | £ |  0.57 |   |  4.8 |  | £ |  876 |  | 
| Summarizes information about stock options granted based on the market value at grant date which were outstanding | The following table summarizes information about stock options granted based on the market value at grant date which were outstanding as of December 31, 2023: 
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  
|  |  |  |  | Weighted |  | Average |  |  |  |  
|  |  |  |  | average |  | remaining |  | Aggregate |  
|  |  |  |  | exercise price |  | contractual |  | intrinsic value |  
|  |      | Options |      | per option |      | term (years) |      | (thousands) |  
| Outstanding at January 1, 2023 |   |  112,477,463 |  | £ |  0.60 |  |  |  |  |  68 |  
| Changes during the period: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  
| Granted |   |  60,891,430 |  | £ |  0.38 |  |  |  |  |  |  
| Exercised |  |  (2,318,712) |  | £ |  0.08 |  |  |  |  |  |  
| Expired |  |  (14,681,143) |  | £ |  0.55 |  |  |  |  |  |  
| Forfeited |   |  (8,698,923) |  | £ |  0.42 |  |  |  |  |  |  
| Outstanding at December 31, 2023 |   |  147,670,115 |  | £ |  0.53 |   |  5.9 |  | £ |  131 |  
| Exercisable at December 31, 2023 |   |  104,062,503 |  | £ |  0.61 |   |  4.7 |  | £ |  94 |  | 
| Summary of information about RSU-style options which are outstanding | The following table summarizes information about RSU-style options which were outstanding as of December 31, 2023: 
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  
|  |  |  |  |  | Average |  |  |  |  
|  |  |  |  |  | remaining |  | Aggregate |  
|  |  |  |  |  | contractual |  | intrinsic value |  
|  |      | Options |      |  | term (years) |      | (thousands) |  
| Outstanding at January 1, 2023 |   |  40,061,626 |  |  |  8.4 |  |  |  8,014 |  
| Changes during the period: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  
| Granted |   |  27,375,252 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  
| Exercised |  |  (12,295,698) |  |  |  |  |  |  |  
| Expired |  |  (235,271) |  |  |  |  |  |  |  
| Forfeited |   |  (11,425,849) |  |  |  |  |  |  |  
| Outstanding at December 31, 2023 |   |  43,480,060 |  |  |  8.1 |   | £ |  4,470 |  
| Exercisable at December 31, 2023 |   |  7,608,744 |  |  |  6.3 |   | £ |  782 |  | 
| Summary of information about stock options outstanding |  
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  
| Outstanding |  | Exercisable |  
|  |  |  |  |  | Weighted- |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  
|  |  |  |  |  | average |  | Weighted- |  |  |  | Weighted- |  
|  |  |  | Total share |  | remaining |  | average |  | Total share |  | average |  
| Exercise price |      | options |      | contractual life |      | exercise price |      | options |      | exercise price |  
| £ | 0.001 |      |  43,480,060 |  |  8.1 |      | £ |  0.00 |  |  7,608,744 |      | £ |  0.00 |  
|  | 0.01 - 0.25 |  |  21,971,325 |  |  7.3 |  |  |  0.15 |  |  12,088,355 |  |  |  0.17 |  
|  | 0.26 - 0.50 |   |  58,019,113 |  |  6.8 |   |  |  0.36 |  |  29,574,227 |   |  |  0.41 |  
|  | 0.51 - 0.75 |   |  37,467,776 |  |  4.4 |   |  |  0.59 |  |  36,525,314 |   |  |  0.59 |  
|  | 0.76 - 1.00 |   |  22,398,887 |  |  5.0 |   |  |  0.84 |  |  19,100,118 |   |  |  0.85 |  
|  | 1.01 - 1.50 |   |  4,760,589 |  |  4.1 |   |  |  1.30 |  |  4,423,554 |   |  |  1.29 |  
|  | 1.51 - 2.00 |   |  2,208,807 |  |  4.7 |   |  |  1.67 |  |  1,735,989 |   |  |  1.68 |  
|  | Over 2.00 |   |  843,618 |  |  6.0 |   |  |  3.94 |  |  614,946 |   |  |  4.05 |  
| Total |   |  191,150,175 |   |  6.4 |   | £ |  0.41 |   |  111,671,247 |   | £ |  0.57 |  | 
| Summary of the assumptions used to estimate the fair values of the share options granted using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model |  
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  
|  |  | Year ended  |  | Year ended  |  | Year ended  |  
|  |  | December 31,  |  | December 31,  |  | December 31,  |  
|  |      | 2023 |      | 2022 |      | 2021 |  
| Expected term |   | 5 years |   | 5 years |   | 5 years |  
| Expected term (TCR2 replacement options) |  | 0.5 - 4 years |  |  — |  |  — |  
| Expected volatility |  | 84-113% |  | 99-101% |  | 98-100% |  
| Risk free rate |   | 3.27-4.52% |   | 0.94-3.90% |   | 0.00-0.61% |  
| Expected dividend yield |  | 0% |  | 0% |  | 0% |  |