Bio-Sourcing, a pioneering Belgian biotherapeutic company, has secured €2.5M in grants and €10M in equity from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator. The €2.5M grant funding will enable Bio-Sourcing to bring the first biosimilar developed from the company’s platform BioMilk™ to clinical trials by 2027.
The €10M in equity – which will be part of the company’s next venture round – will support the performance of these trials. It will also be used to expand the company premises, including the scaling-up of a goat facility and the building of an industrial milk processing plant.
Biosimilars – medical treatments very similar to previously approved biological drugs – are very costly, posing a significant barrier to access, even after patent expiration. The bulk of these high costs is associated with traditional methods of production.
The first biosimilar the company will bring to trials is adalimumab (Humira), a widely used treatment for autoimmune diseases. The adalimumab biosimilar is expected to generate significant upfront payments and long-term royalties, which will be reinvested into further research and development. This will enable Bio-Sourcing to scale its operations and bring additional biosimilars to market such as trastuzumab and golimumab, two other blockbuster biologics.
“Our BioMilk platform is a game-changer for the biopharmaceutical industry,” said Dr. Bertrand Merot, founder and CEO of Bio-Sourcing. “The recognition and financial support from the EIC Accelerator underscore the transformative potential of our platform and its importance in addressing global healthcare challenges. Not only are we advancing our mission to make biotherapeutics more affordable with this funding, we are also creating an opportunity for Europe to position itself as a leader in the global biopharmaceutical market.”
Bio-Sourcing specializes in producing biotherapeutics, in particular monoclonal antibodies, in the milk of specialized goats. Bio-Sourcing’s BioMilk platform leverages the natural ability of goats to produce complex proteins in their milk. This method is five times more cost-effective than traditional approaches and significantly reduces the environmental footprint of production.