Univercells, a Belgium-based biologics development technology provider that counts pharmaceutical firm Takeda as an investor, agreed up to €50m ($54.1m) in financing from investment firm KKR’s Gamma Biosciences vehicle yesterday.
Founded in 2013, Univercells is developing technology that will enable businesses to create biotherapeutics and vaccines at more affordable prices. The money will go to a newly formed Univercells subsidiary tasked with commercialising its manufacturing technologies.
The unit is prioritising the company’s NevoLine vaccine biomanufacturing system and a range of bioreactors under the Scale-X brand which integrate with the NevoLine platform to facilitate large-scale production.
The funding will support further development of Univercells’ technology and the streamlining of its manufacturing processes, and is intended specifically to allow it to expand its products into the gene therapy segment of the market.
Hugues Bultot, chief executive of Univercells, said: “KKR and Gamma will open access to an unparalleled global network, enabling accelerated production and delivery of the NevoLine and scale-X technologies and driving commercialisation.”
The company had previously raised more than $25m in funding, with Takeda providing $3.3m in 2015 before its Takeda Ventures subsidiary invested a further $3.5m two years later.
Social impact funds Global Health Investment Fund, Inventures II and The Innovation Fund subsequently joined venture capital firm Korea Investment Partners to supply $18.8m for Univercells in a series B round in mid-2018.
