Image source: Gelomics co-founder and CEO Dr Christoph Meinert and QIC Private Equity Investment Director Patrick Christiansen at the biotech's Brisbane laboratory.A Brisbane biotech start-up eliminating the need for animal testing in pharmaceutical drug development is the latest to be supported by the Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) managed Enterprise Acceleration Fund.
Gelomics has developed a 3D tissue culture system that allows scientists to grow microscopic representations of human tissue in a petri dish.
From tiny beating hearts to tumour tissues, by better replicating human biology in a laboratory setting, this innovation paves the way for more ethical, reliable, cost-effective, and efficient medical research and preclinical studies.
A $2.2 million pre-seed round led by early-stage investor Jelix Ventures alongside QIC and Angelloop will support Gelomics’ continued market expansion, creating more than 70 highly-skilled local jobs over the next five years.
QIC Private Equity Investment Director Patrick Christiansen said growing recognition of the limitations of traditional cell culture solutions and the significant costs to new drug development presents a compelling opportunity for Gelomics.
“This investment allows Gelomics to capitalise on these sector headwinds and position themselves as an emerging leader in the transformation of the pharmaceutical industry,” Mr Christiansen said.
“The QIC Ventures team has been impressed with the deep technical expertise of the founding group, and importantly, their commercial nous and experience which compliments this.
“Christoph and Peter are passionate about the problem they are solving, with the ambition to deliver on it.
“Through the Enterprise Acceleration Fund, we’re backing Gelomics’ vision to become the new gold standard adopted by laboratories around the world and the jobs this will create for Queensland.”
Gelomics co-founder and CEO Dr Christoph Meinert said by improving the reliability of preclinical studies, the 3D tissue culture solution reduces unnecessary financial loss, time taken to market and the need for animal testing.
“Over 200 million animals are euthanised for research and drug development every year, despite over 90 per cent of drug candidates failing in human trials after successful animal testing,” Dr Meinert said.
“This technology is not just a leap forward in terms of innovation; it is a paradigm shift towards creating life-like human tissue models in the lab, which are scalable to industrial requirements and fully compatible with current automated systems.
“The impact of this technology extends beyond accelerating drug development timelines - it promises substantial reductions in the costs and ethical concerns associated with traditional research and development methodologies.
“With the support of the Jelix Ventures, QIC, and Angelloop, we look forward to expanding our team with top-tier talent in Brisbane while accelerating product development and executing a well-strategised market penetration plan in the United States.”
Gelomics has already demonstrated its market viability through extensive in-market validation of its 3D tissue culture technology, reporting a demo-to-sales conversion rate exceeding 80 per cent, alongside securing over 250 returning customers across 22 international markets.
Business investment funds managed by QIC have invested $152 million into 78 businesses, creating more than 1,200 jobs.
For more information, visit Enterprise Acceleration Fund.
For further information, please contact:
Further information
QIC’s Private Equity team manages A$8.5 billion (as at 31 Dec 2023) globally in venture capital, growth equity and private equity via funds, co-investments and direct investments on behalf of government, superannuation and institutional investors. We aim to be a partner of choice for our portfolio companies and general partners, with sufficient scale to be meaningful, but small enough to maintain our selectivity.