SAMABRIVA

The French biotechnology company Samabriva has successfully completed a Series-A round of financing to secure an investment of nearly €4 million. Its innovative plant-based bioproduction process has the potential to transform production of high value molecules* - such as natural active molecules (secondary metabolites) and recombinant proteins - for the pharmaceutical and cosmetic sectors.

Several specialist biotech business angels have joined this round of funding. Alongside their financial investment, they will bring a wealth of knowledge to help transform Samabriva into a leading CDMO. The immediate focus will be on the production of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) using confined and controlled plant-based expression systems.

With lead investors like Noshaq and Investsud Tech now on board, this financing round will accelerate Samabriva’s growth. The company will be able to develop its first industrial production site in the Liège region of Belgium, taking advantage of the exceptional biotech ecosystem there, while maintaining the research center in France. This will complement the support already received from Service public de Wallonie (SPW) in Belgium and Banque publique d'investissement (BPI) in France. The funding will increase the speed with which Samabriva’s technology is deployed and ensure the transformation of the company into a fully-fledged CDMO.

Marina Guillet, CEO of Samabriva - “We’re delighted that leading biotech investors have seen the incredible potential of Samabriva. With their support for our expansion in the rapidly growing API market, we’ll be ideally placed to meet the needs of the pharmaceutical sector.”

Eric Brandt, Investment manager at Noshaq – “Samabriva is at the cutting edge of plant-based biotechnology. This makes it an exciting investment opportunity. The sustainability, stability and consistency that come from growing plants in a bioreactor are increasingly hard to resist for biopharma companies. We’re delighted to help Samabriva meet that need.”

Pascal Lizin, Chairman of Samabriva - “Building our first production site in Belgium is a major step forward for Samabriva. Not only will the investment transform our API production capability but it will also accelerate the company’s international business development. The funding will also enable us to expand our R&D center in Amiens, France which is dedicated to the development of new production processes for high value products. This will contribute to tackling the ongoing challenges in the global pharmaceutical industry, addressing critical public health issues.”

About Samabriva

We’re a plant-based biotechnology company which has successfully developed a proprietary bioproduction platform that is already being used by the pharmaceuticals and cosmetics industry. For companies that need affordable production of high-value molecules our innovative, flexible system is a game-changing solution.

Samabriva’s platform combines the advantages of plant-based systems (low cost, safe, serum- and animal-free) with traditional bioproduction in large-scale bioreactors. This delivers continuous, reliable and environmentally sustainable manufacture of a wide range of high value molecules all year round, in any location.

The manufacture of secondary metabolites currently lacks local scalable and sustainable production processes. Currently, secondary metabolites are mainly produced by growing plants in fields. However, extracting these compounds produces very small amounts from each plant. For example, one gram of vinblastine for chemotherapy treatment requires half a ton of dry leaves from the Madagascar periwinkle, Catharanthus roseus, making the process costly and environmentally unsustainable.

The manufacture of recombinant proteins currently lacks cost effective and contaminant free production processes. Recombinant proteins are typically produced in bacterial (Escherichia coli) or more commonly in mammalian (typically Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO)) cell cultures. These bioproduction systems are complex and costly. Mammalian cell cultures often use animal-derived media that require extensive purification of the final product to avoid any risk of virus or prion transmission.

The increasing demand for these high value molecules* is driving the need to produce them at scale in a more controlled and environmentally sustainable way.

Find out more at samabriva.com.

About Noshaq

Noshaq is an investment fund and project developer with a portfolio of more than 450 companies. Noshaq is the reference financial partner for the creation and development of SMEs in the Liege region (Belgium). Over the years, Noshaq has developed a variety of financing vehicles, which are fully in line with market needs and trends, as well as its strategy. All services offered by Noshaq are always designed to reflect the needs and requirements of the client investor. The goal is to boost the growth of the companies we invest in.

noshaq.be

About Investsud Tech

Investsud Tech is a specialized VC fund investing in seed and early-stage startups. Its portfolio of companies features some of the leading young technological companies in Wallonia. The fund belongs to the INVESTSUD Group, which is a private equity firm located in Wallonia, Belgium, dedicated to supporting small and medium-sized family companies, with equity or quasi-equity funds.

investsud.be

Notes:

*The global botanical and plant-derivative drug market is growing rapidly (at an estimated CAGR of 8.58% between 2018 and 2026¹) while the recombinant protein market is expected to grow even faster (at a CAGR of 11.2% between 2021 and 2026²).

1. Global botanical and plant derivative drug market forecast 2018-2026; Marker Research Report
2. https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/recombinant-protein-market
   Recombinant protein market - growth, trends, covid-19 impact, and forecasts (2022 - 2027) - Mordor Intelligence.

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