PULSE 2026

Will Milligan recently founded Extracellular, the first dedicated manufacturing partner to support cellular agriculture. Will shares how the BIA has supported his professional development and Extracellular’s start-up journey.

Discovery Park Ventures (DPV) has announced investment in two more early-stage life science and technology companies, allowing them to scale and progress further towards commercialisation.

This significant financial milestone was achieved with the support of new investors Pioneer Group and 2048 Ventures, alongside existing backers Deep Science Ventures, Cancer Research Horizons, and Discovery Park Ventures.

£20 million Series A financing underway to support development of lead product

The round was co-led by new leading life science investors Novo Holdings and Abingworth. Additional new investors British Patient Capital (a wholly owned commercial subsidiary of British Business Bank plc, the UK government’s economic development bank), Cancer Research Horizons and Eli Lilly and Company also participated alongside founding investors Brandon Capital and Sofinnova Partners.

Neobe Therapeutics, an early-stage startup, has raised £520k in non-dilutive and pre-seed equity funding to engineer live biotherapeutics to remove barriers to immune infiltration in solid tumours.

MicrofluidX announces it has raised £1.4m in seed funding to develop its novel cell bioprocessing technology, utilising microfluidics to tackle the challenges associated with bioprocessing for cell and gene therapy.

Extracellular, a scale-up and development partner supporting cultivated meat companies, has secured investment from Big Idea Ventures, global leader in early-stage investments in the alternative protein sector.

BoobyBiome, a female-led start-up developing a live biotherapeutic product to address the spectrum of infant gut needs, has raised £1.3 million in equity and grant funding, including backing from Discovery Park Ventures, the investment fund launched earlier this year by Discovery Park.

Funding will support recruitment, commercial partnerships, and further development of Semarion’s SemaCyte cell assaying platform, which turns adherent cells into liquid reagents to enable novel drug screening methodologies. Investors include Parkwalk Advisors, University of Cambridge Seed Funds, Martlet Capital, and angel investors

PetMedix’s proprietary drug development activities have led to a promising and large portfolio of antibody drug candidates targeting areas of unmet clinical need in both chronic and terminal diseases affecting dogs and cats.

I left academia after 7 years of country-switching, hopping from one top-flight academic institution to the next, always working on some form of mathematical biology. My final stop was Berlin, I was sick of moving and I was exceedingly tired of working on other people’s projects.

Pablo Lubroth attended the 2018 PULSE programme (Programme for Up and coming Life Science Entrepreneurs, which is run annually by the BIA together with the Francis Crick Institute) in order to develop plans for novel cell therapy companies arising from Horizon Discovery.

Infinitopes Precision Immunomics, an integrated cancer biotech combining world-leading platforms in precision antigen discovery with vaccine vectors capable of durably stimulating protective immune responses, today announced the completion of a £12.8 million seed funding round led by Octopus Ventures.

We are a group of scientists passionate about confronting health challenges. Inspired by cutting edge research and working alongside other scientific experts, we founded our company BoobyBiome.

SHEFFIELD, England, April 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Rinri Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing a novel stem cell therapy to restore hearing, today announces that it has raised a total of £10 million from existing investors Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund (BIVF), UCB Ventures and BioCity alongside the UK Government Future Fund. The proceeds will support the development of the Company's novel stem cell therapy to reverse sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL).

BugBiome was announced as the winner of the Discovery Spark life science business support programme at the GIANT Health Healthcare Investment Show on 5th December. BugBiome will be awarded a business support package worth over £100,000, including one year of free lab space at Discovery Park and £50,000 investment from Discovery Park Ventures.

Cellestial Health, a pioneering pharmaceutical development spin-out from the University of Cambridge, has closed a £515,000 pre-seed equity funding round to accelerate the development of novel therapeutics targeting astrocytes, an often-overlooked cell type in the brain, with the first indication of Parkinson’s disease.

This new collaboration will deliver a powerful and innovative approach, to overcome barriers and form new companies that address current needs within the pioneering area of Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs).

Guest blog by Jolyon Martin, co-founder and Head of Business Development at PetMedix

For World Cancer Day this weekend, we spoke with Dr Jonathan Kwok, CEO of Infinitopes, a Cancer Research UK (CRUK)-led precision immunology spinout from Oxford University. Dr Kwok describes the challenges of creating novel targeted treatments for cancer, overcoming difficult financial markets, and the importance of working with a passionate team. Infinitopes is also recruiting…

Myricx Bio announces that it has been awarded the Cancer Research Horizons Start-Up Achievement Recognition Award for 2025, which it received at a ceremony in London last night.