Silvia Bio, a University of Sheffield biotechnology spinout focused on improving the manufacturing of complex biological medicines, has raised £3 million in Seed funding. The round was led by Northern Gritstone, with additional investment from the Parkwalk-managed Northern Universities Venture Fund, the UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund managed by Future Planet Capital, Wren Capital, and angel investors.
Silvia Bio is developing an integrated platform designed to identify biological bottlenecks that limit the performance of mammalian cells used to manufacture therapeutics such as antibodies and gene therapies. As biological medicines become more complex, manufacturing cells can struggle to produce them consistently, potentially resulting in lower yields, variable product quality, and longer development timelines.
The company said more than half of new biological medicines are now considered difficult to manufacture, while delays can carry significant commercial consequences for biopharmaceutical companies.
Silvia Bio’s technology uses proprietary cell profiling to create detailed fingerprints of how cells behave during the manufacturing process. The company uses those insights to identify factors driving underperformance and then formulates bioreactor-compatible media additives to improve product yields and critical quality attributes.
The platform is intended to give biopharmaceutical companies both diagnostic information about manufacturing problems and practical products that can be incorporated directly into existing production processes.
Silvia Bio was founded by Ed Curry, Melinda Pohle, Professor Adam Brown, and Professor David James, building on more than 20 years of biomanufacturing research conducted at the University of Sheffield.
The new funding will support Silvia Bio’s transition from the university into dedicated laboratory space at the Innovation Centre in Sheffield. The company plans to triple its headcount, automate processes currently performed manually, increase commercial capacity, and accelerate development of additional licensable products.
Silvia Bio has already validated its platform with industrial partners and plans to use the Seed financing to expand internationally as it develops its position in the biomanufacturing market.
The Northern Universities Venture Fund is managed by Parkwalk in collaboration with Northern Gritstone and is designed to support companies emerging from universities across Northern England.
KEY QUOTES:
“The medicines being developed today have the potential to transform patients’ lives, but many are becoming harder and more expensive to manufacture. Our platform gives biopharmaceutical companies a much clearer view of why their cells are underperforming and, crucially, provides practical solutions that can be introduced directly into the manufacturing process. This investment will allow us to automate and scale our technology, grow our team and help more companies bring complex medicines to patients faster.”
Ed Curry, CEO And Co-Founder Of Silvia Bio
“Silvia Bio is tackling a critical bottleneck in the development of next-generation medicines. Its technology combines deep scientific insight with a clear commercial proposition: helping manufacturers improve yields, reduce delays and make complex biologics more predictable to produce. Building on world-class research from the University of Sheffield and the support of our venture builder programme, NG Studios, Ed, Melinda and the team have made impressive progress, and we are delighted to support their next phase of growth.”
Duncan Johnson, CEO Of Northern Gritstone
“Silvia Bio is exactly why we set up the Northern Universities Venture Fund. It’s deep science from the University of Sheffield, aimed at a manufacturing bottleneck that costs biopharma companies real money and real time. Ed, Melinda and the team have built a platform that gets to the root cause of the problem, and we’re pleased to be backing them alongside Northern Gritstone as they scale.”
Moray Wright, CEO Of Parkwalk
