Utrecht’s Scinus Raises €3 Million To Advance Cell Therapy Manufacturing

The funding round was led by Myosotis Investments, with participation from existing shareholders, including the company’s founders and the Demcon Innovation Fund.

Following the close of the round, Dr. Erik Vossenaar, currently Managing Director, will be appointed Executive Director and CEO. Additionally, Dr. Janeska de Jonge will join the Board as a Non-Executive Director, representing Myosotis Investments, while a third board member is expected to be appointed in the near future.

Scinus Group was founded in 2016 by Prof. Dr. Joost de Bruijn, Prof. Dr. Clemens van Blitterswijk, and FrankJan van der Velden following its demerger from Xpand Biotechnology. The company’s mission is to make cell therapies accessible to patients worldwide by developing processes and platform technologies for point-of-care manufacturing of autologous, clinical-grade cell therapies.

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The company notes that while the potential of cell therapies is increasingly recognized, manufacturing remains a major industry challenge. As more therapies progress beyond early clinical trials the ability to produce cells at scale reliably and cost-effectively becomes critical. According to Scinus, automated, scalable, and closed manufacturing platforms are essential to expand patient access and ensure sustainable commercialization of advanced cell therapies.

Scinus Group states that its Osilaris™ Platform, a closed and automated bioreactor system, was specifically designed to tackle the key challenges of scalable cell therapy manufacturing.

The Osilaris™ bioreactor enhances production consistency by combining scalability with precise environmental control. Its fully enclosed GMP-compliant design enables multiple unit operations within a single system minimizing contamination risks reducing manual handling and lowering media and labor requirements.

The platform is commercially available and is already deployed at leading academic Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMP) manufacturers and multiple ATMP Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisations (CDMOs) across Europe, including globally recognized players.

It supports a wide range of applications, including CAR T-cell and CAR-TCR therapies, tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), organoids, viral vector production, and extracellular vesicles.

With the recent capital injection, Scinus plans to accelerate the commercial rollout of the Osilaris™ Platform in key markets while further strengthening its governance and operational capabilities.

Scinus Group consists of Scinus Holding and its wholly owned operating company, Scinus Cell Expansion.

Dr Erik Vossenaar, incoming CEO of Scinus, stated, “We are pleased to welcome Myosotis Investments as lead investor in this round and to continue the strong support from our founders and Demcon. This investment brings Scinus to the next level of organisational maturity. With a strengthened governance structure and a market-ready GMP-compliant platform, we are well-positioned to execute our commercial roll-out strategy in key markets and move steadily towards profitability.”

“Advanced cell therapies require robust and scalable manufacturing solutions. Scinus has developed a differentiated platform that addresses key bottlenecks in control, scalability and cost-efficiency. I am impressed by the technological foundation of Osilaris and the team’s disciplined execution focus. We look forward to supporting Scinus in its next phase of commercial growth,” said Dr Wietse Mulder, Founder and Managing Partner of Myosotis Investments.