Cell encapsulation for transport of cells and tissues at room temperature
14th May 2020 — Cambridge and Newcastle, UK – Atelerix, inventors and owners of the innovative cell encapsulation technology, incorporated within the widely used the “Ready” product range, today announced it has closed a third round of funding of £600,000 to build additional capability to capitalise upon the unique set of features of its technology, which are eminently applicable to the transport of therapeutic cells in the fast growing cell therapy market.
Atelerix’s products are used for the storage and transport of human cells and tissues at room temperature, removing the need for cryo-preservation and the potential for cell degradation or damage, caused by freeze-thawing fragile biological material. Atelerix sells its products and services to customers in the cell therapy sector, as well as those developing cells, bio-printing cellular structures, manufacturing organoids and building cellular assays for use in research and drug discovery development.
Previous funding rounds allowed the company to validate its technology, develop easy-to-use product formats for use with different cells and tissues and launch products onto the market. The follow-on investment announced today will be used to grow the team and build a quality-focused production infrastructure, positioning Atelerix to capitalise on the exciting opportunities in the cell therapy sector where delivery of viable cells to the patient remains a significant logistical challenge.
Atelerix CEO, Dr Mick McLean, commented “We’re delighted with the success of this over-subscribed funding round. I’m particularly pleased that our existing investors chose to reinvest in this round and once again support the company’s ambitions. We’ve witnessed a lot of excitement for our products and technology since we launched two years ago and this latest investment will allow us to accelerate the growth of the business and enter the cellular therapy market with a Quality-focused product and service offering.”
The new investment round was led by existing investors Oxford Technology Management, Newable Private Investing and UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund (UKI2S) with existing angel investors also joining the round. Rita Dhut of Newable, who joined the board of Atelerix as an Observer after this round, says “Atelerix’s products, despite being at an early stage, have shown very promising results when applied to the task of transporting cell therapies at room temperature. Our fund’s investment, ensures that investment may be made, so that the CellReady™ technology may be applied to applications in cell-based therapy.”. Hitesh Thakrar of Newable and a partner at Syncona, said “we are particularly excited about the potential for the CellReady™ product range to reduce cellular therapy logistic costs, while ensuring viability of shipped product.” Andrea Mica of Oxford Technology Management says ‘As one of the founding investors, OTM is delighted to see Atelerix continue to grow and launch new products, especially into the large cell-based therapy market.”.
Mick McLean, CEO for Atelerix Ltd, can be contacted directly via mick.mclean@atelerix.co.uk.
