M&G invests $10 million into Nuclera as it expands its technology range for research and drug discovery

London, 2 February 2022 – M&G announces it has become the latest investor into Nuclera Nucleics Ltd (“Nuclera”), a Cambridge-based biotech company developing cutting-edge benchtop protein printing technologies. Nuclera’s technologies are designed to increase scientific reproducibility, accelerate drug discovery, and contribute to the ever-expanding bio-economy.

The company will use the $42.5 million raised from investors to accelerate the development and commercialisation of Nuclera’s eProtein™ desktop bioprinter – a rapid protein prototyping and discovery platform that enables protein printing in just 24 hours, significantly faster than existing methods of protein synthesis. Founded by four PhD students at the University of Cambridge in 2013, the technology has gained significant traction with customers in the pharmaceutical, biotech, agribiotech, and synthetic biology industries, which are already working with Nuclera to accelerate their innovation pipelines.

The investment has been made by M&G’s Catalyst strategy, which is investing up to £5 billion into innovative privately-owned businesses working to create a more sustainable world. The strategy which has three core focuses – climate, healthcare and inclusion – provided pre-IPO financing to both Vaccitech Ltd and Oxford Nanopore Technologies last year.

Michael Chen, Co-founder and CEO of Nuclera, says: “There’s a fundamental productivity problem in biotech today. A biotech scientist needs to know how to make proteins to design drugs. That’s like expecting a computer scientist to know how to build a computer to design software. Our eProtein desktop bioprinter makes it easy for scientists to access the proteins they need in a single day rather than the weeks, months, or even years it currently takes. The new financing and partners we have announced is a strong vote of confidence in our mission to increase the accessibility of the drug discovery and general bio-innovation process.”

Niranjan Sirdeshpande, Director, M&G’s Catalyst Investment Team, comments: “The drug discovery process can be long and costly for pharmaceutical companies but this technology will potentially be transformational in research projects across many biotech industries. Nuclera’s technology will enable scientists to access proteins to research at an accelerated rate, improving efficiencies, as well as widening access to proteins for research.”

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The Catalyst investment strategy sits within the Private & Alternative Assets division at M&G. With over two decades of experience in private asset investment, M&G already manages over £65 billion in private credit, private equity and real estate on behalf of Prudential policyholders and external clients.

Drawing on this expertise and track record in private assets, Catalyst seeks opportunities across the globe to invest in unlisted businesses where capital is needed to drive innovation and impact.

Size of Private and Alternative Assets team (£65 billion), as at 30 June 2021.

The first close of Nuclera’s Series B financing has raised $42.5 million from a range of investors. Nuclera’s eProtein™ discovery platform that enables protein printing in just 24 hours, significantly faster than existing methods of protein synthesis. The eProtein bioprinter is powered by the company’s eDrop™ digital microfluidic technology - a core enabling technology borne out of the company’s strategic partnership with E Ink.

The eProtein desktop bioprinter will initially screen and print proteins for research and drug discovery customers, and the company is developing an all-encompassing proteomics platform. This will provide Nuclera’s eProtein customers with an instrument that will unify protein expression and characterization. The all-in-one platform will increase scientific reproducibility, accelerate drug discovery, and contribute to the ever-expanding bio-economy.

OpenAbout Nuclera

Nuclera is the leading pioneer in making biology accessible through its eProtein™ desktop bioprinting technology. Headquartered in Cambridge, UK, Nuclera was founded in 2013 by four PhD students at the University of Cambridge who were frustrated by the inaccessibility of biology.

Nuclera has since grown to 60 employees across two continents as the Company delivers on its founders’ vision to make biology accessible to everyone through desktop bioprinting. With desktop bioprinting, researchers and scientists will be empowered to take control of biology through streamlined access to a next-day supply of proteins.

Three exciting Nuclera technologies protected by 45+ patents enable Nuclera’s desktop bioprinter: eProtein™ synthesis, eDNA™ synthesis, and eDrop™ digital microfluidics. The combination of these technologies in a deployable desktop bioprinting platform creates an unprecedented one-stop shop ecosystem that enables Nuclera to provide consistent biological workflows, products, and information to its customers. To be a part of Nuclera’s effort or to simply learn more, please visit https://www.nuclera.com/.

OpenAbout M&G Investments

M&G Investments is part of M&G plc, a savings and investment business which was formed in 2017 through the merger of Prudential plc’s UK and Europe savings and insurance operation and M&G, its wholly owned international investment manager. M&G plc listed as an independent company on the London Stock Exchange in October 2019 and has over £370 billion of assets under management (as at 30 June 2021). M&G plc has customers in the UK, Europe, the Americas and Asia, including individual savers and investors, life insurance policy holders and pension scheme members.

For nearly nine decades M&G Investments has been helping its customers to prosper by putting investments to work, which in turn creates jobs, homes and vital infrastructure in the real economy. Its investment solutions span equities, fixed income, multi asset, cash, private debt, infrastructure and real estate.

M&G recognises the importance of responsible investing and is a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI) and is a member of the Climate Bonds Initiative Partners Programme.

M&G plc has committed to achieve net zero carbon emissions on its total book of assets under management and administration by 2050 and committed to reduce operational carbon emissions as a corporate entity to net zero by 2030.

For more information, please visit: https://global.mandg.com/

OpenDisclaimer

This press release reflects the authors’ present opinions reflecting current market conditions; are subject to change without notice; and involve a number of assumptions which may not prove valid. It has been written for informational purposes only and should not be considered as investment advice or as a recommendation of any particular security, strategy or investment product.

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