UNIVERCELLS
18.2.2020 13:02:08 CET | Business Wire | Press release
Univercells, an innovative bioprocessing provider focused on increasing the availability of affordable biologics to address global health challenges, has announced up to EUR 50M financing from Gamma Biosciences, a new investment platform supported by leading global investment firm KKR, that is focused on next-generation bioprocessing technologies for the production of advanced biologic therapies including gene- and cell-based therapies. The investment will be deployed in a newly created subsidiary of Univercells focused on accelerating the industrialization and commercialization of Univercells’ manufacturing technologies, including the NevoLine™ biomanufacturing platform and the scale-X™ bioreactor portfolio.
With the new financing, Univercells will focus on scaling the NevoLine platform and the scale-X portfolio with a comprehensive approach to streamline production, fund innovation, enable new product and application development and drive commercial acceleration. Specifically, the investment is intended to support continued expansion into the fast-growing gene therapy segment, including new developments that will enable a range of best-in-class solutions for viral manufacturing.
“KKR and Gamma will open access to an unparalleled global network, enabling accelerated production and delivery of the NevoLine and scale-X technologies and driving commercialization,” said Hugues Bultot, CEO of Univercells. “Aligning with high-end sponsors such as KKR that back our mission to have a positive impact on global health is a true honor for our team. This investment builds on existing grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation , Global Health Investment Fund and European Investment Bank and secures our ability to create value for the market with speed, efficacy and reliability.”
Both the scale-X bioreactor portfolio and the NevoLine biomanufacturing platform have been designed and commercially validated to reduce dramatically the footprint, capital and operational expenditures required to produce a variety of biologic and viral products. The investment is driven by a shared desire to make these breakthrough technologies more readily accessible and positively impact global health via effective, cost-controlled production solutions.
“KKR, through Gamma Biosciences, seeks to back innovative and impactful next-generation bioprocessing technologies, which is why we are excited to be investing in Univercells and its mission to deliver affordable biologics and gene therapies globally. Furthermore, we are excited to be working with Hugues and his team, who have a fantastic track record of building innovative biomanufacturing companies.” said Kugan Sathiyanandarajah, Director at KKR and Head of Europe for KKR’s Health Care Strategic Growth investing efforts, and Anuv Ratan, Principal at KKR.
The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2020. Once the transaction is complete, Univercells’ remaining business will concentrate on developing a portfolio of vaccines and biosimilars to be delivered at an affordable price and establishing its services offering.
About Univercells
Univercells
is a business-to-business provider focused on increasing the availability of affordable biologics to address global health challenges. The company is developing turnkey solutions for a series of vaccines and biotherapeutics to be delivered at an affordable price. By relying on proprietary core technologies and a continuous process intensification approach, production is achieved with a smaller footprint and significantly lower overall capital and operational costs.
A global company headquartered in Gosselies (Belgium), Univercells benefits from the support of prominent stakeholders such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Global Health Investment Fund and the European Investment Bank.
About KKR
KKR is a leading global investment firm that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate and credit, with strategic partners that manage hedge funds. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns for its fund investors by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and driving growth and value creation with KKR portfolio companies. KKR invests its own capital alongside the capital it manages for fund investors and provides financing solutions and investment opportunities through its capital markets business. References to KKR's investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR), please visit KKR's website at www.kkr.com and on Twitter @KKR_Co.
About Gamma Biosciences
Gamma Biosciences is a life sciences tools platform created by KKR. Gamma’s mission is to build a leading player in next-generation bioprocessing for advanced therapies by acquiring or investing in high-potential businesses with outstanding technology and accelerating their growth.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200218005465/en/
About Business Wire
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Arboris Capital Selects ROYC to Expand Private Markets Capabilities on CapGain Platform18.5.2026 09:00:00 CEST | Press release
Arboris Capital Limited (“Arboris”), a DIFC-based firm arranging alternative investments, authorised by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), today announced that it has selected ROYC AB (“ROYC”), a private markets technology and infrastructure provider, to support the continued development of its private markets offering through its platform, CapGain. In its ongoing efforts to expand its private markets capabilities across the Middle East, Arboris has undertaken a strategic review of how to further scale its offering while maintaining the integrity of its existing platform. As a result, Arboris has chosen to integrate ROYC’s fund access, sourcing, and structuring capabilities into CapGain, complementing its existing infrastructure. CapGain is Arboris’s proprietary investment platform, purpose-built to facilitate access between international private market opportunities and Professional Investors in the region. CapGain provides fully digital investor onboarding and KYC, a secu
OdysseyRe Announces New Co-Chief Underwriting Officers for EMEA18.5.2026 09:00:00 CEST | Press release
Odyssey Reinsurance Company (OdysseyRe) today announced the appointments of Tegwen Gromellon and Anne-Claire Serres as co-chief underwriting officers of its EMEA division, effective July 1. They succeed longtime Chief Underwriting Officer, Gaël Le Païh, who is retiring later this year following 36 years with the Company. Based in Paris, Serres joined OdysseyRe in 2018 as the market director for France and will lead the division’s business across France, Africa and the Middle East. Gromellon, who joined OdysseyRe in 2004, has served as market director for Germany, Austria, Benelux and Switzerland since 2019. He will take the lead for the rest of Europe, including the relationship with the Company’s representative office in Stockholm for the Nordic markets and across Turkey. “We are delighted to appoint both Tegwen and Anne-Claire to these important leadership positions,” said Isabelle Dubots-Lafitte, chief executive officer of EMEA for OdysseyRe. “These appointments recognize their sign
LogicMonitor and Deutsche Telekom Expand Partnership Across Europe18.5.2026 09:00:00 CEST | Press release
Expanded availability of LogicMonitor within Deutsche Telekom’s managed services portfolio follows successful operational use in the UKSelect outcomes include reduced reporting times and proactive incident preventionExpansion extends across DACH, Benelux, and the Nordics LogicMonitor®, the AI-first platform for Autonomous IT, today announced the expanded availability of its platform within Deutsche Telekom’s managed services portfolio across selected European markets, including DACH, Benelux, and the Nordics. The expansion builds on operational use of LogicMonitor in the United Kingdom since 2023, where it has supported Deutsche Telekom’s service teams in improving visibility across network, cloud, and hybrid infrastructure environments. Experience gained from these deployments is now informing broader service enablement across additional European markets. As enterprise IT environments grow more complex, organisations require more than visibility—they need predictive resilience. Throug
Prokarium Reports Positive Interim Data from Phase 1/1b PARADIGM-1 trial of ZH9 in NMIBC patients, Demonstrating Excellent Safety and Encouraging Early Efficacy18.5.2026 09:00:00 CEST | Press release
ZH9 is very well tolerated with a favourable safety profile, and no dose-limiting toxicities or Grade ≥3 drug-related adverse events reported.ZH9 demonstrates 91% freedom-from-relapse in NMIBC patients who have reached study end.Company plans to run a larger phase 2 study across a range of patient populations spanning intermediate risk and high risk including CIS. Prokarium, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company pioneering bacterial immunotherapies for the treatment of solid tumours, today announced safety and antitumour efficacy results from an interim review of the ongoing Phase 1/1b PARADIGM-1 trial of ZH9 in non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) patients. These data were shared via an oral podium presentation at the American Urology Association (AUA26) Annual Meeting. Prokarium CMO, Dr Josefin-Beate Holz said “These data demonstrate ZH9 as a universally applicable treatment for patients. As the treatment is very well tolerated and is showing impactful outcomes for early a
VahatiCor Appoints Harry D. Rowland, Ph.D., as Chief Executive Officer18.5.2026 08:00:00 CEST | Press release
Endotronix co-founder and former CEO joins VahatiCor as the company advances the A-FLUX Reducer System® and the SERRA-I early feasibility study VahatiCor, Inc., a medtech company developing interventional therapies for Coronary Microvascular Dysfunction (CMD), announced today the appointment of Harry D. Rowland, Ph.D., as Chief Executive Officer. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260517830314/en/ VahatiCor CEO, Harry D. Rowland, Ph.D. Rowland previously served as Chief Executive Officer and President of Endotronix, where he led the development and commercialization of the Cordella™ Pulmonary Artery Sensor and Heart Failure System. Under his leadership, Endotronix raised over $150 million and grew to more than 150 employees. He also oversaw the PROACTIVE-HF pivotal trial from execution through FDA premarket approval and commercial launch. Following its acquisition by Edwards Lifesciences in 2024, Rowland stayed o
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom