Cardiff Capital Region has invested £2M in Jellagen, a unique platform on a journey to revolutionise regenerative medicines and treatments for skin diseases and tissue reconstruction, through the medical development of Collagen Type 0.

The investment is part of a wider £8.7M Series A equity financing round which will enable the Cardiff-based biotech to advance its industry-leading program of product development –  opening up a broad range of possibilities to transform regenerative medicine through a variety of medical devices and culture applications.

The keystone funding will allow the pioneering Jellagen platform to accelerate medical development of Collagen Type 0 through their soft tissue healing medical program – a progression that represents a paradigm shift in patient treatment, and positions Jellagen as a potential market leader in global medical devices and biomaterials.

Jellagen has already led the way in reducing risks to patients through use of advanced collagen biomaterials derived from jellyfish – rather than mammalian sources such as pigs, cows and rats, which carry the risk of disease and virus transfer when used in humans.

The funding round also involves the Development Bank of Wales, the Thai Union Group PCL and existing shareholders – with CCR making a key investment aligned to the strategic intent of generating local sustainable growth, greater GVA and new job creation in the Region, in a company that has already demonstrated its huge potential as part of the MedTech ecosystem in South East Wales.

Thomas-Paul Descamps CEO of Jellagen, said:

“It is a great achievement and a major step to have secured this pivotal Series A round in such a challenging economic environment. I want first to thank our new investors and our existing shareholders for their trust in the incredible potential of the Jellagen technology platform.

Cardiff Capital Region City Deal and the Development Bank of Wales are providing us with a unique local Welsh ecosystem to support the growth of Jellagen as a future global medical devices and biomaterial leader based in Wales. In addition, the investment of Thai Union is a game-changer in securing Jellagen sourcing and enabling future manufacturing scaleup.

Combining the immense possibilities of our Collagen Type 0 with this enlarged investor base will help unleash the considerable potential of the Jellagen technology platform.”

Rhys Thomas, Chief Operating Officer of Cardiff Capital Region, said:

“The successful Jellagen funding round represents all that CCR stands for: a world-class collaboration that will leverage greater investment in our Region, and bring significant benefit to the world at large. Being able to support such a pioneering company and world-first innovation to South East Wales is a reflection of the growing international importance of the CCR MedTech cluster – and we are looking forward to seeing the Jellagen platform develop and deliver multiple life-changing applications, from their home here in our Region.”

Colan Mehaffey, Head of Innovation & Cluster Development at Cardiff Capital Region, said:

“CCR is excited to invest in a company that started life in Cardiff in 2015, based on the pioneering work of Professor Andrew Mearns Spragg. This is a business built on the twin pillars of innovation and sustainability, which mirror two of CCR’s own strategic goals. Jellagen’s commitment to building sustainable sources for critical biomaterials – which do not carry the environmental and human health risks of traditional collagen sources – clearly has huge potential, placing it firmly at the centre of the fast-growing MedTech ecosystem in our Region.”

Mark Bowman, Deputy Fund Manager at the Development Bank of Wales, said:

“We’re hugely pleased to have backed Jellagen as part of this funding round. Wales is host to a number of pioneering biotech companies and we were pleased to join the Cardiff Capital Region City Deal in supporting Jellagen – our combined backing will allow us to grow a sector which is already strong in the region, and strengthens Wales’ position as host to a thriving medical sciences sector.”