Dear , 

Sphere Fluidics is an established Life Sciences company which has developed unique products for use in single cell analysis and characterisation and is now focusing on developing Industrial Systems that enable rapid ultra-high throughput discovery of therapeutics from single cells, e.g. Cyto-Mine®.

The company was founded on IP generated by the University of Cambridge and has in-licensed 7 patent families from the University and other leading institutions. The core technology is now protected by 54 patents and has been developed with £6m of equity and over £8m of grants.

The pharmaceutical industry has a deficit of new drugs and is suffering from aging drug patent portfolios and a related rise in the selling of generic drugs by their competitors. As a response, pharmaceutical firms are now moving away from chemical (also called small molecule) drugs towards significant investment in biological drugs (biopharmaceuticals), stem cell therapies and areas of unmet medical need (e.g. cancer). Those companies need new technologies to enable acceleration of their research and development. Sphere Fluidics has developed a new technology platform for single cell analysis and characterisation which enables the discovery and development of new biopharmaceuticals and cell therapies and novel ways to study diseases, such as cancer. Sphere Fluidics can find that rare “one in a billion” molecule or cell type that could be an industry blockbuster. Also, compared to conventional approaches, their technology is very fast and highly miniaturised - offering tremendous cost-savings.

Sphere Fluidics provides high value R&D services for single cell analysis and characterisation and has successfully commercialised 55 unique products in this area.

The Opportunity

Sphere Fluidics is operating in the single cell analysis and characterisation market which require millions of miniaturised tests per day. This market is of significant interest to all major pharmaceutical companies. The company has already secured Blue Chip customers, demonstrating initial market traction. In its next phase the company plans the commercial launch of its Cyto-Mine® system, to evolve to selling consumables directly and to continue development of their next new platform - ESI-Mine® system. Burn rates will be offset by ongoing R&D Services activity and early sales. Development of the instrument business is critical for accelerating related consumable sales and scaling of the business.

The Markets

1) Biopharmaceutical Discovery & Development Tools

     £214 million growing at 10% p.a.

2) Single Cell Disease Research

     e.g. Infectious Diseases: £60 million p.a. growing at 6% p.a.

3) Stem Cell Engineering, Isolation and Analysis

     £580 million growing at 14% p.a.

4) Single Cell Diagnostics and Prognostics

     e.g. Cancer Market (Total): £20 billion growing at 15% p.a.

Progress

Since the last funding round in 2015, the company has focused its strategy and made strong commercial and technical progress across various fronts, including:

• Sold Research Systems to leading pharma and academic organisations
• Developed the Cyto-Mine® system in partnership with leading pharma companies
• Delivered R&D Service programs for leading pharma (e.g. GSK) and biotech firms

Potential progress in 2017:

• Progress sales of the Cyto-Mine® system 
• Sell consumables directly to customers
• Continue development of the ESI-Mine™ platform
• Continue with collaborative R&D Services in strategic areas of interest
• Partner with leading companies in therapeutic discovery from single cells

Management / Team

Dr Andrew Mackintosh, Chairman, was CEO of The Royal Society Enterprise Fund and previously CEO of Oxford Instruments plc.

Dr Frank F. Craig, CEO, was previously CEO of Smart Holograms, VP R&D Amersham Biosciences, VP Aurora Biosciences, and a Senior Scientist at GlaxoSmithKline. He has been involved with co-founding biotech start-ups with a market capitalisation of £1.7bn, raised £18m of VC/angel money and delivered circa £180m in recorded sales.

Professor Wilhelm T. S. Huck, Co-Founder, is a world expert on soft lithography and holder of an ERC grant on “Microdroplets in Microfluidics”. Based at Cambridge University and Radboud University.

Dr Marian Rehak, Director of Research and Development, is responsible for management of all R&D activities at Sphere Fluidics. He has a strong background, and more than 20 years’ experience, in industrial and academic research and development environments.

Dr Rob Marchmont, Commercial Director, brings to Sphere Fluidics more than 25 years’ experience in privately-owned and publicly-traded Life Sciences companies. He has a proven track record in business development, technical selling and strategic marketing.

This financial promotion is issued by Parkwalk Advisors Limited (Parkwalk), which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Investments referred to in this newsletter are not suitable for all investors.  Interested parties are strongly recommended to seek specialist financial and tax advice before investing in any product.  Capital is at risk and investors may not get back the full amount invested. Tax treatment depends on the individual circumstances of each investor and may be subject to change. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results, and the value of investments may go down as well as up. Projections and forecasts are also not a reliable indicator of future performance. Investments in small and unquoted companies carry a higher risk than many other forms of investment. Any investment in a Parkwalk product must only be made on the basis of the terms of the full Information Memorandum. Parkwalk is not able to provide advice as to the suitability of investing in any product.