Northern Gritstone, the investment business focused on science and technology-enabled businesses in the North of England, along with Parkwalk Advisors, have today announced a combined £3.5 million seed round investment into adsilico Limited ('adsilico'), a spin-out from the University of Leeds with co-founders from the Universities of Leeds and Manchester.
In-silico trials (ISTs) use modelling and simulation to produce scientific evidence of device performance and safety, before testing in human clinical trials. Based on research funded by the Royal Academy of Engineering at the University of Leeds' internationally renowned Schools of Medicine and Computing, adsilico has developed a ground-breaking IST technique that combines multiple data sources and uses generative AI across heterogeneous data sources to create synthetic populations on a scale ideal for clinical trials. adsilico's solution will allow medical device manufacturers to accelerate R&D, reduce the need for animal experimentation, and augment costly human trials.
Northern Gritstone's investment of £2 million sits alongside co-investor Parkwalk Advisors investment of £1.5 million. The combined investment will be used to fund essential development in adsilico and build the team.
Professor Alejandro Frangi, Bicentennial Turing Chair in Computational Medicine at The University of Manchester and Founder of adsilico, said: "Medical devices follow a lengthy evaluation with a tiny amount of scientific evidence currently derived from computer modelling and simulation. The cost is ever-increasing, delaying lifesaving benefits to patients. Northern Gritstone's and Parkwalk's investment and support will enable adsilico to offer a scalable solution to the medical device market to produce evidence on an unprecedented scale".
Duncan Johnson, CEO of Northern Gritstone, said: "Computational modelling has the potential to revolutionise the MedTech industry and reduce the risks to humans. Northern Gritstone is delighted to support adsilico's team, who once again demonstrate that great science and technology-enabled businesses are being created in the North of England."
Moray Wright, CEO of Parkwalk Advisors, said: "We are proud to be backing adsilico through this seed funding round. adsilico's pioneering approach to in-silico trials has potential to significantly accelerate the pace of innovation in medical device development. It's fantastic to see this university spin-out take another step forward on its vision to bring safer and more efficient medical devices".
Professor Nick Plant, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research and Innovation at the University of Leeds, said: "This funding will help to redefine the development of medical devices, enhancing performance and safety with more certainty and speed, and most importantly, prior to human testing".
"It is a further testament to Leeds' pioneering approach and strength in driving innovation to accelerate the adoption of new health technologies, delivering improvements and impact directly to healthcare professionals and patients."
