Press Release

Univercells S.A. introduces its latest affiliate, Quantoom Biosciences S.A., a biotech with the mission to improve access to essential medicines and autonomy in bioproduction through innovation. Quantoom Biosciences develops clinically validated technology platforms that will address some of the biggest production challenges in vaccines and therapeutics, supporting decentralized production. R&D facilities are strategically located in Belgium, in the heart of Europe.

With its open, fully integrated and affordable RNA platform, Quantoom Biosciences provides research organizations, CDMO’s and biopharma companies greater access and autonomy to RNA production that would otherwise be out of their reach. Partners benefit from capabilities, know-how and secured access to critical components to produce any desired RNA product without being tied to a drug developer. The technology is designed to scale seamlessly from small-scale (e.g., pre-clinical batches) to mass production to meet capacity needs throughout – from lab to launch and beyond.

Quantoom Biosciences is a team of scientists, engineers and clinicians bringing radical innovation to vaccines and therapeutics production, led by José Castillo co-founder of Univercells. A serial entrepreneur, José previously co-founded Artelis, where he invented the iCellis bioreactor, which became industry standard for cell and gene therapy. Artelis was acquired by ATMI in 2010, later by Danaher (now Pall) in 2014. In parallel to Univercells, José also co-founded MaSTherCell in 2011, a leading CDMO in cell therapy (now Catalent). He is known as one of the best bioprocess innovators in the world

José Castillo, CEO of Quantoom Biosciences commented: “The COVID-19 pandemic has underlined the desperate need for technological innovation in manufacturing. By lowering the barriers, we allow our partners that have previously not considered exploring RNA-based vaccines and therapeutics, to enter the market and make independent, informed decisions about their product development and strategy. This is a very exciting moment, and we look forward to achieving our first milestone in the coming months.”

Hugues Bultot, CEO of Univercells added: “We are delighted to welcome Quantoom Biosciences into the Group. This new affiliate is Univercells’ innovation driver, building the future of biomanufacturing through technologies, and will contribute to the Group vision of making biologics available to all.”