GHO Capital Partners, a specialist investor in global healthcare, has invested in RoslinCT, a University of Edinburgh spinout company focused on advanced cell therapies.
Established in 2006 with support from Scottish Enterprise, RoslinCT was formed through an initial spinout from the Roslin Institute, which has a famous track record in genetic and cellular biology. The Roslin Institute became part of the University of Edinburgh in 2008.
Since 2014, the company has had a manufacturing base within the University’s Centre for Regenerative Medicine in a facility shared with the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service. RoslinCT has worked to advance the field of regenerative medicine and today is at the forefront of high-quality cell therapy development and manufacturing.
EI investment support
The University was a major shareholder in RoslinCT as a spinout company, and Edinburgh Innovations' investment team, Old College Capital, supported the GHO transaction execution on behalf of the University. EI worked closely with RoslinCT’s management throughout the process, from initial investor interest to conclusion of the investment, which will help the team realise their growth ambitions.
RoslinCT recently expanded into facilities at Edinburgh BioQuarter, and is recognised globally as a unique Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) establishing its own commercial scale production.
Global customers
RoslinCT services an established, international customer base of blue-chip pharma and biotech companies, partnering from development phase through to late-stage clinical manufacturing. The business is set to benefit from exponential growth in the advanced therapy market which is forecast to grow at up to 50% annually.
With GHO’s backing, RoslinCT will significantly increase its development and manufacturing capacity, supporting customer acquisition and product diversification.
RoslinCT will benefit from GHO’s sector expertise and international resources to accelerate growth, scaling the business to build on its best-in-class therapies and better service a growing international client base.
The Partners at GHO Capital said:
RoslinCT is renowned for its best-in-class services in developing and manufacturing advanced cell therapies and we are delighted to partner with the team. With an established background in regenerative medicines and a strong foothold in Scotland as the leading centre for cell therapy research, RoslinCT, with our investment and specialist expertise, is uniquely positioned to drive the next stage of its growth. We look forward to realising the shared ambition for RoslinCT become a global CDMO with commercialised cell therapy manufacturing capabilities.
Janet Downie, CEO of of RoslinCT, said:
Having built RoslinCT and our highly skilled team over many years I am delighted to have the support of GHO. GHO have a wealth of healthcare expertise which is key, as we look to drive global growth and expand our operations to meet rising international demand. With huge advancements being made in the cell therapy industry, RoslinCT is now perfectly positioned to truly become a global CDMO, having gone from strength to strength in recent years. I see this as a very natural and exciting step for the business and we look forward to hitting further milestones with the backing of GHO.
Professor Peter Mathieson, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh, said:
The Roslin Institute has a long history of successful spin-out companies, therefore we are delighted that the partnership with GHO will enable RoslinCT to expand its activities in South East Scotland. Roslin has been at the forefront of genetic bioscience for nearly 30 years and researchers at Roslin continue to contribute to advances in frontier bioscience underpinning both human and animal health.
The University and our partners – including the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service and Scottish Enterprise continue to believe in the life-changing opportunities cell therapies can provide to treat cancer, genetic and other disorders and this deal further validates Edinburgh as a world-leading centre of cell therapy research and commercialisation.
Slaughter & May acted as legal advisor to GHO, and Alvarez and Marsal acted as both financial and tax advisor, Deloitte as structuring advisor, ClearView Healthcare Partners as commercial advisor, Dark Horse Consulting Group as Technical advisor and ERM as ESG advisor.
Torreya Partners (Europe) LLP served as financial advisor to RoslinCT and Dentons provided legal advice.
Main image: RoslinCT CEO Janet Downie
