Madrid and London, 1st of March, 2016. CRB Inverbío, one of the leading Spanish Venture Capital firms investing in world-class healthcare technologies, announces its investment in Aglaris Ltd, an Anglo/Spanish company, focused in the development of the world’s first bioreactor that cultures stem cell in a fully automated way. This investment will enable Aglaris Ltd to complete the development of its bioreactor through the end of the ß-testing process.
Aglaris has proprietary and patented technology that enables the mass production of mesenchymal stem cells in a fully automated way, reducing significantly the need for human intervention in the cell separation and washing stages, and eliminating the need of using additives like trypsin, responsible of irreversible cell damages. The bioreactor, named Aglaris Facer 1.0, will systematize and integrate all the steps of the production process providing ideal conditions for the culture and production of stem cells in massive volumes.
Stem cells have the remarkable potential to develop into many different cell types in the body during early life and growth. In addition, in many tissues they serve as a sort of internal repair system, dividing essentially without limit to replenish other cells. They offer the possibility of a renewable source of replacement cells and tissues to treat diseases including diabetes, Parkinson disease, burns, spinal cord injury, and heart disease among others. As Miquel Costa, one of the co-founders said “there is a great potential market for stem cells applications. However current cell manufacturing techniques provide limited capacity thus reducing its growth. Aglaris technology has the potential to change this paradigm enabling efficient mass production of stem cells”.
Aglaris Ltd has also announced the appointment to the Board of Directors of Dr. Jose Antonio Castillo, CEO of Mastercell, a Belgian Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization specialized in the industrialization of cell therapy products, and Mr. Francisco Canal, President Europe of Hill-Rom, a global manufacturer and provider of medical technologies and related services for the health care industry.
CRB Inverbío Managing Partners Pablo Cabello and Angel Santos have also been appointed to the Board. They are joined by co/founders Dr. David Horna and Dr. Miquel Costa, and Manuel Fuertes, Managing Director of Kiatt Capital and Head of Special Projects at Oxford Isis Innovation. Mr. Santos will also act as Chairman of the Board.
About Aglaris Cell:
Aglaris Cell S.L. was founded in 2012 by Miquel Costa, David Horna and Manuel Angel González, and has a chemistry lab in the Scientific Park of Madrid and a biomaterial and engineering lab in the United Kingdom. In 2014 created Aglaris Ltd as a subsidiary that in 2015 became the parent company. Aglaris Ltd is collaborating with the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult in the development of stem cell manufacturing solutions. Other shareholders in the company in addition to its founders include Kiatt Capital.
www.aglariscell.es
About CRB Inverbío:
Cross Road Biotech Inversiones Biotecnológicas (CRB Inverbío SGEIC SA) is a venture capital manager that invests in the development of seed stage companies in life sciences that address unmet medical needs for global markets. CRB Inverbío has €50M in assets under management distributed in two funds, CRB SCR and CRB Bio II FCR, with a portfolio of 13 participated companies.
www.crbinverbio.com
Aglaris has proprietary and patented technology that enables the mass production of mesenchymal stem cells in a fully automated way, reducing significantly the need for human intervention in the cell separation and washing stages, and eliminating the need of using additives like trypsin, responsible of irreversible cell damages. The bioreactor, named Aglaris Facer 1.0, will systematize and integrate all the steps of the production process providing ideal conditions for the culture and production of stem cells in massive volumes.
Stem cells have the remarkable potential to develop into many different cell types in the body during early life and growth. In addition, in many tissues they serve as a sort of internal repair system, dividing essentially without limit to replenish other cells. They offer the possibility of a renewable source of replacement cells and tissues to treat diseases including diabetes, Parkinson disease, burns, spinal cord injury, and heart disease among others. As Miquel Costa, one of the co-founders said “there is a great potential market for stem cells applications. However current cell manufacturing techniques provide limited capacity thus reducing its growth. Aglaris technology has the potential to change this paradigm enabling efficient mass production of stem cells”.
Aglaris Ltd has also announced the appointment to the Board of Directors of Dr. Jose Antonio Castillo, CEO of Mastercell, a Belgian Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization specialized in the industrialization of cell therapy products, and Mr. Francisco Canal, President Europe of Hill-Rom, a global manufacturer and provider of medical technologies and related services for the health care industry.
CRB Inverbío Managing Partners Pablo Cabello and Angel Santos have also been appointed to the Board. They are joined by co/founders Dr. David Horna and Dr. Miquel Costa, and Manuel Fuertes, Managing Director of Kiatt Capital and Head of Special Projects at Oxford Isis Innovation. Mr. Santos will also act as Chairman of the Board.
About Aglaris Cell:
Aglaris Cell S.L. was founded in 2012 by Miquel Costa, David Horna and Manuel Angel González, and has a chemistry lab in the Scientific Park of Madrid and a biomaterial and engineering lab in the United Kingdom. In 2014 created Aglaris Ltd as a subsidiary that in 2015 became the parent company. Aglaris Ltd is collaborating with the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult in the development of stem cell manufacturing solutions. Other shareholders in the company in addition to its founders include Kiatt Capital.
www.aglariscell.es
About CRB Inverbío:
Cross Road Biotech Inversiones Biotecnológicas (CRB Inverbío SGEIC SA) is a venture capital manager that invests in the development of seed stage companies in life sciences that address unmet medical needs for global markets. CRB Inverbío has €50M in assets under management distributed in two funds, CRB SCR and CRB Bio II FCR, with a portfolio of 13 participated companies.
www.crbinverbio.com
