Plasticell Completes £3.5 Million Financing Round

Plasticell, the biotechnology company specializing in high throughput technologies for directed stem cell differentiation, has announced it has completed a two-part equity financing, raising a total of £3.5 million from new and existing investors.

The first tranche of the financing, in which £1.5 million was drawn down in April 2009, was used to develop Plasticell’s unique second generation CombiCult™ technology for high throughput stem cell differentiation. The improved technology was launched in October 2010 and received the Frost & Sullivan Technology Innovation Award.

A further £2 million investment, closed in December 2010, will provide capital for the expansion of the company’s business development and marketing activities to increase its growing customer base.

Plasticell uses massively parallel screening technologies to derive high value cell lines from stem cells. The company has already announced a number of deals with pharmaceutical, biotechnology and reagent supply companies including GSK, UCB and Sigma Aldrich.

Dr Yen Choo, CEO of Plasticell, commented: “We are very pleased to have successfully closed this fundraising with both financing rounds fully subscribed, despite an exceptionally challenging economic climate. Investors undoubtedly view stem cells as an attractive proposition and Plasticell as an industry innovator with novel technology that is fully developed and already in use both by big pharma and diverse niche players.”