Utrecht-based Scinus secures €3 million to tackle one of the biggest challenges in cell therapy

Scinus Group, a Utrecht-based startup that develops and distributes bioreactor technology for stem cell cultivation, has closed a €3 million strategic investment round to accelerate the global rollout of the Osilaris cell expansion platform.

The round was led by Myosotis Investments. Existing shareholders, including the company’s founders and the Demcon Innovation Fund, also participated in the round. Following the conclusion of the round, Dr Erik Vossenaar, currently serving as Managing Director of Scinus, will be appointed as Executive Director and CEO. Dr Janeska de Jonge will join the Board as a Non-Executive Director, representing Myosotis Investments. A third member will be appointed to the board at a later date.

Dr Erik Vossenaar, incoming CEO of Scinus, stated, “We are pleased to welcome Myosotis Investments as lead investor in this round and to continue the strong support from our founders and Demcon. This investment brings Scinus to the next level of organisational maturity. With a strengthened governance structure and a market-ready GMP-compliant platform, we are well-positioned to execute our commercial roll-out strategy in key markets and move steadily towards profitability.”

Scinus Group was founded in 2016 by Prof. Dr Joost de Bruijn, Prof. Dr Clemens van Blitterswijk, and FrankJan van der Velden after its demerger from Xpand Biotechnology. The company aims to make cell therapies accessible to a global patient population. It develops processes and platform technology for point-of-care manufacturing of autologous, clinical-grade cell therapies.

According to the company, the potential of cell therapies is becoming more apparent, yet manufacturing remains one of the industry’s biggest challenges. It states that as more therapies advance beyond early clinical stages, the capacity to reliably produce cells at scale, without increasing costs, is increasingly vital. Automated, scalable, and closed manufacturing platforms are crucial for broadening patient access and maintaining sustainable commercialisation.

It claims that Osilaris Platform, its closed and automated bioreactor system, has been designed specifically to address these challenges. 

“Osilaris enables cell cultures to expand dynamically as the cell population grows, avoiding the constraints of fixed-volume systems and supporting significantly higher expansion rates. At the same time, its proprietary oxygenation and mixing approach allows gentle, shear-free processing while maintaining tight control over critical process parameters, particularly important for sensitive cell types,” the company explained. 

The Osilaris bioreactor platform enhances manufacturing consistency by combining scalability with better environmental control. Its fully enclosed, GMP-compliant design enables multiple unit operations within a single system, which minimises contamination risks, cuts down manual handling, and reduces GMP media use and labour needs.

The platform is commercially available and installed at leading academic Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMP) manufacturers, as well as at multiple ATMP Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisations (CDMOs) in Europe, including globally recognised players. 

It is designed to support a range of applications, including Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell and CAR-T-cell Receptor (TCR) therapies, tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), organoids, viral vector production, and extracellular vesicles.

“Advanced cell therapies require robust and scalable manufacturing solutions. Scinus has developed a differentiated platform that addresses key bottlenecks in control, scalability and cost-efficiency. I am impressed by the technological foundation of Osilaris and the team’s disciplined execution focus. We look forward to supporting Scinus in its next phase of commercial growth,” said Dr Wietse Mulder, Founder and Managing Partner of Myosotis Investments. 

With this capital, the company plans to support the accelerated commercial roll-out of the Osilaris Platform in key markets, while further strengthening the company’s governance and operational maturity. 

Scinus Group comprises Scinus Holding and its wholly owned operating company, Scinus Cell Expansion. 

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