Cardiff-based biotech company Jellagen is receiving an injection of £8.7 million in investment from Thai Union and other strategic financial partners to continue development of collagen biomaterials derived from jellyfish.
Jellagen aims to revolutionise regenerative medicine through a range of medical devices and culture applications. Early clinical findings from Jellagen’s studies prove Collagen Type 0, derived from jellyfish, to be superior to mammalian counterparts, especially in medical and healing areas. The funding in this round will be used to accelerate medical development of Collagen Type 0, as a sustainable collagen biomaterial to be used as a treatment for skin diseases and as a biomaterial for tissue reconstruction.
Thai Union’s investment via its Corporate Venture Capital fund (CVC) in Jellagen opens doors for further collaboration to be jointly explored across areas of sourcing, processing, as well as applications within existing and new Thai Union products.
‘It is a great achievement and major step forward to have secured this transforming investment from Thai Union Group,’ said Jellagen’s CEO Thomas-Paul Descamps.
‘The investment will support the growth of Jellagen as a future global medical device and biomaterial leader. In addition, the investment will secure Jellagen’s sourcing and enable the future manufacturing scaleup. Combining the immense possibilities of our Collagen Type 0 with this large industry player will help unleash the considerable potential of the Jellagen technology platform.’
Thai Union’s CVC fund was established in 2019. It has identified alternative proteins, functional nutrition and biotechnology, in addition to new technologies along the food value chain, as strategic areas for investment. The fund invests in, and partners with, early-stage, entrepreneurial companies working in these areas, seeking to support and accelerate their development to grow the industry in line with Thai Union’s commitment to Healthy Living, Healthy Oceans.
Based on the pioneering research of Professor Andrew Mearns Spragg, collagen in Jellagen’s products is extracted from Rhizostoma pulmo, an ancient species of large jellyfish common to the Irish Sea. Peer-reviewed published research as well as the company’s own application-specific advisory papers demonstrate the significant advantages of Collagen Type 0 over mammalian collagen for both research and medicine.
