ETHICAL research firm Cytochroma has secured almost £1m to further commercialise its business.
The life sciences company, based at Roslin, Midlothian, provides ethical, sustainable and accurate alternatives to animal testing in drug discovery and development.
Part of the money raised came from Angel Academe and fellow female-focused group Investing Women Angels (IWA), as well as Cambridge Capital.
IWA has also mentored the company’s founder, Dr Kate Cameron, who was a 2021 AccelerateHER Awards winner.
Scottish Enterprise has provided match co-investment funding for the private equity investment round.
Cytochroma uses robotics to manufacture and test genetically diverse mini-livers to identify safer, novel medicines faster and more efficiently.
The firm has also built an ethically sourced, diverse induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) library which contains backgrounds of ethnic groups that are currently underrepresented in clinical trials.
The new money will enable Cytochroma to expand its existing facilities and grow its sales and technical team.
The company also plans to model a range of tissue and organs, including the development of mini-hearts to predict the safety and effect of new drugs and vaccines.
Cameron said: “This combination of grant-funding and private equity is a huge boost which will enable Cytochroma to launch its products across the global market and significantly expand its service offering.”
Founded in 2017, Cytochroma has formed key partnerships with renowned medical research organisations.
These include Glasgow’s Beatson Institute and the Medicines Discovery Catapult, to further develop its technology.
The company has now begun to generate revenues and is involved in discussions with a number of major pharmaceutical groups.
The investment by Angel Academe was led by Lucy Rhodes who, along with her colleague and fellow investor Tariq Rafique, will join Cytochroma’s board.
Rhodes said: “Cytochroma is at the leading edge of market innovation within the global life sciences sector, providing much needed ethical and effective drug development solutions which include under-represented ethnic groups without the need to use animals for testing.”
Jackie Waring, CEO of Investing Women Angels said: “Kate is an inspiring female-founder with a great vision on the way forward in modern drug development and discovery.”
