Ten Bio Limited

Company description

Ten Bio develops skin models for use in clinical research.

Ten Bio will be a biotechnology spin-out company from the University of Dundee with exclusive license rights to a strong IP portfolio relating to the developed technology by which discarded human skin is maintained under physiological tension. This patent pending method for testing new pharmaceutical and cosmetic products solves current industry challenges related to the use of traditional methods by retaining tissue viability and preserving the ability of the skin to respond to external stimuli. The business' first product, a ready-to-use full-thickness human skin testing product (TenSkin™), has been shown to outperform the competition in a variety of metrics and is the model that is most similar to living human skin on the body by a notable margin. The TenSkin™ technology will act as a replacement for cellular- and tissue-based models and also certain animal models in predicting efficacy and safety, enabling delivery of new cosmetic and pharma products while offering both cost savings and streamlined workflows. The company will initially offer the product complete with tensioned skin then scale through a combination of revenue and non-dilutive grant funding to develop an assembly platform which can be sold and licensed to customers enabling them to manufacture the TenSkin™ product line in-house. The TenSkin™ product will be available for sale during the first month following Ten Bio's launch. There are several competing skin or skin equivalent technologies currently available combining to a current market value in excess of $100m; however, we believe that the true scale of the market and hence the current business opportunity is much greater due to many potential customers using 'home made' models owing to a belief that the current commercially available options add little to no value. The company directors will consist of the scientific founders with support of an exceptional advisory panel consisting of industry and business experts. Ten Bio conservatively expects to generate £9.5M annual revenue by year 5. Having established key relationships with international partners and global brands with a history of acquiring innovative technologies, the company will be in a strong exit position potentially through a sale to a global pharma or cosmetics company. Based on projected revenue and profitability, the expected exit would be at least £40M. Ten Bio will be an ethical, sustainable and scalable business, creating highly skilled jobs and adding to Scotland's global economic wealth and our reputation for innovation.

Project impact

Through the university, we have submitted three patents, which were funded from previous grants. The company has yet to make an impact as trading is predicted to begin in June.