Growth spurt as Scottish drug delivery company secures seven-figure funding injection

Scottish drug delivery company Bio-Images Drug Delivery (BDD) is gearing up for new year growth after securing a £1.2 million funding injection.

BDD already works with many global companies, outlicensing its timed release technology, which enables the oral delivery of single, multi-dose or combination drugs at pre-determined times between one and 12 hours after being swallowed by the patient. Picture: Andrew Milligan/AFP via Getty Images

The investment has been led by Edinburgh-based business angel investment syndicate Archangels, supported by Scottish Enterprise and BioCity Investments. BDD is based at BioCity Scotland in Newhouse.

The funding will enable the firm to invest in senior hires and “significantly” expand its current manufacturing capabilities to support product development and clinical trial supplies.

The new manufacturing and formulation capabilities will allow international pharmaceutical, biotech and consumer health companies to speed up the clinical evaluation of their products.

BDD already works with many global companies, outlicensing its timed release technology, which enables the oral delivery of single, multi-dose or combination drugs at pre-determined times between one and 12 hours after being swallowed by the patient.

To support the new growth phase, the firm has appointed Stephen Brown as a non-executive director. At the same time, Joanne Kelley has stepped up from her role as non-executive director as the newly elected chairman of the board.

Brown, who is said to have a strong pedigree in drug delivery and pharmaceutical product development, was previously chief executive of privately held Encap Drug Delivery, leading the transformation of the business and ultimately its sale to Capsugel (KKR) until it was acquired by Lonza in 2017.

Carol Thomson, chief executive of Bio-Images Drug Delivery, said: “This is a very exciting time for BDD. We have always been recognised for our ability to provide rapid development and clinical proof of performance for new drug products.

“This growth allows us to build on that, providing a single centre comprehensive service from development through in vivo testing and provision of larger scale clinical trial supplies.”

Sarah Hardy, director and head of new investments at Archangels, said: “BDD is a great example of home-grown innovation that is growing and diversifying its offering to respond to client needs, accelerating drug development.”

Jan Robertson, director of Scottish Enterprise, said: “Safe and effective acceleration of clinical drug trials has never been more important.

“In recent years, BDD has gone from strength to strength positioning itself as an important player in the marketplace. We’re pleased to participate in this latest funding round which will allow BDD to reinforce its leadership team and further enhance its manufacturing capabilities at this critical time.”

Commenting on his appointment, Brown said: “I am very happy to be joining the excellent team at BDD. There are very few companies in the world that have such breadth and depth of formulation and drug delivery expertise across a range of dosage forms and the capability to evaluate clinically in real time under the same roof (adaptive clinical trial mode).

“Over the years BDD has proved to be a go-to partner for challenging oral drug delivery projects with a track record in bioavailability enhancement, controlled/sustained release, chronotherapy and targeted release.”

Kelley joined the board at BDD in 2018 following a successful career at AstraZeneca where she was vice president of business development, head of transactions responsible for a number of transformational deals.

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