A Biotechnology firm which has pioneered technology that will advance stem cell research and could lead to a cut in the number of medical tests on people and animals has won £1.6m of investment.
Reinnervate has been researching its technology since it was spun out of Durham University in 2002.
It is using the cash to go into business and believes it can eventually build up revenues of around £30m.
Its chief executive Ashley Cooper said the company, which currently has 12 staff, also hopes to create 50 quality jobs over the next five years after it begins sales and moves into its new base in Netpark near Sedgefield, County Durham.
“After many years of rigorous scientific research and commercial exemplification of our cell culture technologies, Reinnervate is on the brink of commercial operations, a whole new chapter in the company’s history and a milestone all too rarely achieved by aspiring life science companies,” he said.
The firm’s technology, developed by Dr Stefan Przyborski, allows cells to be cultivated in a laboratory in a very similar way to how they grow in the human body.
It develops new ways to manage the growth and function of cultured cells including stem cells.
The company believes its technology will become an important tool in the cell biologist’s armoury, providing a far greater insight into how cells behave in the body, and is in talks with distributors to sell it overseas.
Reinnervate, which has previously won large investment to develop its work, has now won £1.1m from private investors and £500,000 from Newcastle-based investor NorthStar.
Mr Cooper said that backing from investors, the Centre for Life Sciences and regional development agency One North East had been “fundamental” to its success.
“Seed and other early stage funding is almost impossible to secure in the current climate and without the early support that we received in the North East region, our innovative cell culture technologies would never have reached the market,” he said.
Alex Buchan, investment manager of NorthStar, said: “NorthStar has been a longstanding believer in Reinnervate. We are delighted to have invested further and to have led this very successful round of investment which brings Reinnervate £1.6m which will help them commercialise their product and provide them with the opportunity to take the business to a wider audience.”
NorthStar managed the investment from the North East Accelerator Fund – one of a suite of six funds that sits within the £125m Finance for Business North East Fund, formerly known as the Jeremie Fund.
This fund, the first of its kind in the country, will support loans and equity investments into around 850 businesses, creating more than 5,000 new jobs over the next five years, which will help lead forward regional economic growth.
The firm hopes to sell its technology into a number of markets, including the medical sector, as well as the cosmetics industry, which it says will lead to a significant reduction in human and animal testing due to the realistic nature of the cells created.
Mr Przyborski says the company will now enter a worldwide market and that Reinnervate will be able to capture 30% of that market – equating to a turnover of £30m.
“There are a great many markets that are open to us at this time and we are excited about finally getting the product out to market,” he said.
“Although this technology will not replace animal and human testing, it will provide an alternative for a great many industries. We will be looking to build up our site at Netpark over the next two years as our primary manufacturing base.”
Source: The Journal May 28 2010
