AvantiCell Science, the Scottish-based life sciences company, has gained the backing of a major European funding source to build on its ground-breaking work in cell-based analysis. It beat competition from all over the continent to be chosen for Phase 1 of the Horizon 2020 SME Instrument project. AvantiCell Science was one of only four UK companies chosen out of 310 EU applicants for the funding, which for the first time allocates money to individual businesses.
yrshire-based AvantiCell Science uses ethically-sourced human cells to test the benefits and safety of materials which make contact with the human body. Dr Jo Oliver, AvantiCell Science chief executive (pictured), said: "The output would be used by groups such as the pharmaceutical sector, to help screen materials that might potentially go on to become life-saving drugs."
With the help of SME Instrument funding, AvantiCell Science will be able to take its technology a step further. The company aims to use three-dimensional additive printing to assemble its cell models and, when coupled with other proprietary technologies, to deliver them to customers in a ‘plug and play’ format. The concept clearly caught the imagination of the European Commission’s evaluators, who hand-picked and invested in businesses with ambitions to change the established value networks and existing markets.
AvantiCell Science has been operating for nine years from its Scottish HQ and has increased the number of highly-skilled jobs from four to 20.
www.avanticell.com