Three North East based investment
funds have combined forces with a biotech industry specialist to support
Newcastle University’s latest spin out company, MarraBio Ltd (“Marrabio”).
Maven Capital Partners (“Maven”), CPI Enterprises, Northstar Ventures, and TCS
Biosciences have together provided MarraBio with an initial round of seed investment
funding.
MarraBio is developing
ground-breaking technology to produce alternatives to bioactive proteins, some
of the most expensive man-made materials used in industry.
Using technology originally
developed at Newcastle University which has been licenced exclusively to the
company, MarraBio is able to manufacture proteins which mimic the function of
conventional proteins at much lower cost and with improved performance.
Products developed by MarraBio
will target the multi-billion-dollar markets for biomedical research and
therapy, as well as the production of cultivated meat, which is predicted to be
worth over $20 billion by 2030.
CPI Enterprises is the private
investor arm of the Centre for Process Innovation, a leading independent
technology innovation centre and a founding member of the UK Government’s High
Value Manufacturing Catapult.
TCS Biosciences is one of
Europe’s foremost suppliers of biological raw materials and laboratory reagents
to the life sciences sector.
Maven is a leading private equity
manager, with offices across the UK, including Newcastle, and manages the North
East Development Capital Fund, which is also supported by the European Regional
Development Fund.
Newcastle-based Northstar
Ventures has been supporting high growth companies across the North East of
England for almost twenty years and manages the North East Innovation Fund,
supported by the European Regional Development Fund.
Aidan Courtney, MarraBio’s
Executive Chairman, said: ‘This is an outstanding
investment syndicate. Our technology has the potential to accelerate the
development of new medicines and to make the production of animal-free meat
commercially viable. But this will only be achieved with significant financial,
commercial and technical support. So, I am very pleased to have such strength
in depth in our investors at this early stage, and that much of our funding is
coming from North East investors. This augments the support we have received
from Newcastle University to create the company.’
Dr Daniel Peters,
MarraBio’s CEO, said: ‘Our technology builds on two
decades of research at Newcastle University led by my co-founder Professor
Jeremy Lakey into the use of a very unusual protein called Caf1. We have always
been aware of the commercial potential of the research, so it is great that we
now have the resources we need to bring products to the market. Over the next
few years, we will supply products based on the Caf1 protein which address the
severe limitations of current products, notably cost and shelf-life. With our
investors’ support, we will be able to develop products for a wide range of
markets and achieve rapid sales growth.’
Michael Dickens,
Investment Manager at Maven, said: ‘We’re delighted to back
our first local university spin out in the region. MarraBio is a pioneering
business, and its technology platform is already producing a reagent with
proven biological effectiveness for use in cell culture. Dr Daniel Peters is an
expert in the field and we look forward to working with the team to help drive
the business forward as they look to invest in developing and launch their
products.’
Alex Buchan, Investment
Director at Northstar Ventures, said: ‘We are
delighted to invest in MarraBio, having been involved in the spinning out of
this company from Newcastle University. We see their potential as a critical
supplier in fast growing industries such as vaccinations, antibody developments
and cellular therapies. We are excited for the company’s ambitions and what the
future may hold for MarraBio.’
