3D bioprinting

	Next higher product group	BIOTECH

OxSyBio Ltd.. (3/12/18). "Press Release: OxSyBio Ltd Secures £10m Series A Led by Woodford".

Woodford Investment Management leads round into OxSyBio, the second Oxford University spinout from Oxford Nanopore founder Hagan Bayley

OxSyBio, an Oxford University biotech spinout company developing 3D printer technology capable of printing biological materials with a diverse range of therapeutic purposes, has secured £10m in Series A financing from Woodford Investment Management alongside new and existing backers.

OxSyBio has a unique 3D printing platform which enables it to assemble the building blocks of life. The synthetic biology company’s ultimate ambition is to fabricate therapeutic tissues for patients using living cells or non-living ‘artificial’ cells, or hybrid materials. These tissues have the potential to revolutionise the growing field of regenerative medicine, allowing for the literal printing of new tissues that can be used to repair or replace parts of the body damaged through disease or injury.

OxSyBio, which is underpinned by research conducted in the lab of Professor Hagan Bayley, the founding academic behind Oxford Nanopore Technologies, was spun out from Oxford University’s Department of Chemistry by the institution’s innovation arm Oxford University Innovation in 2014.

The Series A was led by Woodford Investment Management, with participation from IP Group plc and Parkwalk Advisors Ltd. The round, part of which is subject to the achievement of milestones, builds on the previous £1m seed funding, bringing OxSyBio’s total fundraising to date to £11m. The latest investment will enable the company to further develop its artificial cell platform and 3D bioprinting technology to develop disruptive products that harness the power of biology for impact in medicine.

Dr Hadrian Green, CEO of OxSyBio, said:
“Biological functions are difficult to create using electrical or mechanical devices, therefore, harnessing the power of biological materials in non-living devices will be highly disruptive. This investment is testament to the power of the original ideas and the hard work of our Chief Technology Officer Sam Olof, the OxSyBio team and the founding lab to turn research into reality. OxSyBio wishes to pay tribute to Oxford University and the unique culture of patient capital, pioneered by Neil Woodford and IP Group, which is instrumental to delivering long-term transformational technologies.”

Moray Wright, Chief Executive Officer at Parkwalk Advisors, added:
“The 3D printing of tissues from living cells in high-throughput formats is already proving interesting to academic and pharmaceutical research teams, with massive potential impact right across the board. The concept of artificial cells has had a long history, but with OxSyBio’s platform technology, the concept is becoming a reality.”

Professor Hagan Bayley FRS added:
“This deal provides the long-term capital required to deliver our ambition of building affordable tissues for patients. The company has already made important strides in translating this technology into a real world product, and we look forward to continuing our close research collaboration.”

ENDS

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:

Gregg Bayes-Brown, Marketing and Communications Manager, Oxford University Innovation
T: +44 (0)1865 280867 | E: gregg.bayes-brown@innovation.ox.ac.uk

Notes to Editors

Papers

OxSyBio’s platform has already scored a string of scientific firsts published in top-tier scientific journals. These academic proofs of concept are being actively incorporated into OxSyBio’s portfolio, and include:

3D printing of biological building blocks into tissues

OxSyBio’s 3D printer creates tissues from droplets that have specific functions made from ‘spare parts’ from the natural biological world combined with synthetic chemistry.

Villar, Graham & Bayley. A Tissue-Like Printed Material. Science Vol. 340, Issue 6128, pp. 48-52 (2013)

Synthetic biology “retina”

Light detecting proteins were assembled into an array to create a non-living retina that can see shapes in real time

Restrepo-Schild et al. Light-Patterned Current Generation in a Droplet Bilayer Array. Scientific Reports volume 7, Article number: 46585 (2017)

Highly patterned research tissues made from living cells

Different cell populations can be 3D printed in defined patterns to create intricate research tissues.

Graham et al. High-Resolution Patterned Cellular Constructs by Droplet-Based 3D Printing Scientific Reports volume 7, Article number: 7004 (2017)

Non-living materials that produce protein on demand

Cell-like behaviours 3D printed into a biomaterial without the complication of living cells

Booth et al. Light-activated communication in synthetic tissues, Science Advances 2, 4 (2016)

About IP Group

IP Group is a leading intellectual property commercialisation company which focuses on evolving great ideas, mainly from its partner universities, into world-changing businesses. The Group has pioneered a unique approach to developing these ideas and the resulting businesses by providing access to business building expertise, capital (through its 100%-owned FCA-authorised subsidiaries IP Capital and Parkwalk Advisors), networks, recruitment and business support. IP Group has a strong track record of success and its portfolio comprises holdings in early-stage to mature businesses across life sciences and technology. IP Group is listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange under the code IPO.

For more information, please visit our website at www.ipgroupplc.com.

About Parkwalk Advisors

Parkwalk invests in high growth, knowledge intensive companies seeking to develop and commercialise technology and innovation originating from UK universities, research intensive institutions and technology clusters. Founded in 2009, Parkwalk is the largest EIS growth fund manager focused on university spin-outs, having raised over £150m to date and backed over 80 companies across its managed funds since inception. The Parkwalk investment vehicles include the evergreen Parkwalk Opportunities Fund, the University of Cambridge Enterprise Funds, the University of Oxford Innovation Funds and the University of Bristol Enterprise Funds.

About Oxford University Innovation

Oxford University Innovation supports innovation activities across all University Divisions, managing technology transfer and consulting activities, and creating a world-leading innovation ecosystem, with Oxford University at its heart.

We provide access to technology from Oxford researchers through intellectual property licensing, spinout company formation and material sales, and to academic expertise through our Consulting Services team. The New Venture Support & Funding team supports investors or donors with an interest in early-stage ventures, and manages the Oxford Angels Network.

Our Startup Incubator supports members and ex-members of the University who wish to start or grow entrepreneur-driven ventures that are not University spinouts.

Oxford University Innovation is the highest university patent filer in the UK and is ranked 1st in the UK for university spinouts, having created over 170 new companies since 1988. In the 2016/17 financial year we completed more than 50 licenses and consulting agreements every month. For updates on innovations from Oxford, follow Oxford University Innovation on LinkedIn and Twitter or subscribe at http://innovation.ox.ac.uk/about/contact-us/#enquiry