Cellevate garners seed funding for bioreactor tech

Swedish biotech Cellevate has raised SEK 39 million ($3.5 million) to support its nanofiber microcarrier technology, Cellevat3d. 

Led by Industrifonden, along with the European Innovation Council Fund (EIC Fund) and Onsight Ventures, the funding aims to drive the company’s ambitious strategy for commercial global launch. 

“Based on the conventional electrospinning process, Cellevat3d is Cellevate’s proprietary nanofiber-based technology in combination with patent-pending technology which enables nanofibers to be handled in a liquid form,” said Laura Chirica, CEO for Cellevate. 

c/o Cellevate

This technology uses micro- and macro-carriers which are adaptable and can be used in the majority of commercial bioreactor models. Because they employ natural polymers, the nanofiber-based carriers are environmentally friendly and sustainable, while also accurately simulating the three-dimensional extracellular environment present in the human body. According to Chirica, this offers up to sixty times more surface area for cell development than competitive products.  

Additionally, the nanotechnology enhances the bioprocessing of innovative biotherapies, including novel vaccines and cell and gene therapies (CGTs). It is reusable, eco-friendly, long-lasting, adaptable, and expandable, the company claims. 

“Through this expansion Cellevate is targeting four customer segments including bioreactor/biologics reagents companies, turnkey solutions established players in the bioprocessing field, CDMO/CROs and biopharma,” she told BioProcess Insider. 

Moreover, the technology overcomes scalability impediments by taking the nanofiber materials into the third dimension. Cellevate aims to eradicate these bottlenecks facilitating more patients to access these transformative therapies globally. 

Chirica added, “The first step involves ‘design-in’ (evaluation and benchmarking) of Cellevat3d microcarriers into customer evaluations- and process development projects of novel solutions for upstream bioprocessing of novel biotherapies.”  

According to the firm, its commercial model includes B2B direct sales in combination with material supplier to bioreactor providers as well as strategic distributor sales partnerships. They are mainly focusing on Europe and the US, with a sales start planned for 2024. 

The funds raised have been allocated for organizational development (45%), commercialization (35%), and scaling-up production (20%).