Axol Bioscience Acquires Newcells Ophthalmology Assets

Axol Bioscience has acquired Newcells Biotech’s ophthalmology business to expand its portfolio of drug discovery and safety testing models. The undisclosed transaction includes the ophthalmology team, facilities, and intellectual property.

Newcells, a spinout from Newcastle University, provides in vitro tools including retinal organoid and retinal pigment epithelium models, including iPSC-derived retinal pigment epithelial cells used to evaluate gene therapy viral vectors and assess disease and safety. Axol, based in Cambridge, UK, uses human iPSC technologies that biopharma and CRO customers use for compound screening, toxicity studies, and mode-of-action investigations.

Axol said integrating the retinal organoid platform with its existing ophthalmology portfolio will broaden its physiologically relevant toolkit for drug developers seeking predictive human models.