With 2023 fast drawing to a close, we sat down with CEO and founder of Cellomatics Biosciences, Dr Shailendra Singh, to get his thoughts on the previous twelve months and his view of what he believes 2024 might deliver.
As we bid farewell to 2023, it’s time to pause and reflect on our achievements and learnings of 2023 and look forward to what 2024 beholds. 2023 started on a great note with the team settling nicely within our new state-of-the-art facilities. With a three-fold increase in the company’s footprint this new premises provided us the space and an open transparent working environment for our valued workforce. A clear strategic growth vision combined with a space fostering intra team collaboration and open communication inspired the Cellomatics Biosciences team to aim for greater success.
Since the start of 2023, the team has almost doubled in size, strengthened its existing technical capabilities with some of the existing staff taking on additional responsibilities to support the growth of the company. I am therefore pleased to announce that 2023 was a very successful and fulfilling period for us.
Science and innovation
Innovation has always been at the heart of Cellomatics business model. Being a specialised CRO offering complex but physiologically relevant in vitro cell-based models, the scientific team continued to innovate and deliver. INNOBEXTM is a classic example of an innovative in vitro model of the Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) that was developed in-house at Cellomatics. Over the years, several companies have designed different models to represent the BBB in vitro. These range from simple one cell type models to complex organ on a chip or microfluidic structures. However, there are several drawbacks associated with these models, with single cell models not receiving feedback from the other cells surrounding the vasculature and more complex models being limited by their expense and low throughput. The Cellomatics Biosciences BBB model, INNOBEX™ was created as a solution to these issues, with three primary cell types making up the model. More information on this model and its applications can be found here.
Business highlights
Since incorporation, our team has worked with over 100 global clients and have successfully delivered around 320 scientific projects combined across all therapeutic areas. Of this, 66 projects were completed in 2023 with 15 new clients added in the same financial year.
Cellomatics continued to expand its marketing efforts to increase outreach and raise awareness of the company, therefore increasing business and raising its brand profile. This has involved distributing a quarterly newsletter to over 1500 subscribers, securing news coverage in local and sector specific outlets, and creating campaigns with downloadable infographics focused on specific therapeutic areas. Sign up to our newsletter here.
As a business, we have seen outstanding growth recently within the area of inflammation with a five-fold increase in the export revenue in the last three years. Cellomatics exported to three new countries, with inflammation revenue generated for the first time in an existing market (Italy), and strong growth achieved in Singapore and USA. Overall, we have doubled our revenue over the last 2 years which has been phenomenal considering the challenging biotech funding environment. This has been only possible due to the tireless efforts, strong commitment and resilience shown by the Cellomatics team. As a CRO service provider, our work philosophy has been built around managing client relationships by being an extended part of their team. This has resulted in over 60% repeat business over the last financial year and can be safely attributed to our quality and the belief entrusted by our clients in our scientific capabilities.
Recognition in 2023
2023 was a fantastic year for us in terms of recognition and appreciation received from the business community and life science sector. Cellomatics was shortlisted as a finalist for at least 8 national business awards in varying categories. 
2023 began in celebratory mood as Cellomatics scooped both the Signature award for Excellence in Technology and the FSB award for Exporter of the Year. These awards emphasise the strides Cellomatics has been taking as an innovative and continuously expanding business. Furthermore these awards acknowledge our work on a global level and add to our credibility and help broaden the brand reputation. To be recognised as the winner of the Pharma Contract Services Company of the Year at the Pharma Industry Awards 2023 held in Manchester was a testament to the quality of our services. In addition, we also collected the Small Business of the Year 2023 Award at the Signature Awards held in London; the International Trade award at the Business Masters 2023 awards held by TheBusinessDesk.com and the International Business of the Year at the Nachural Summer Business Dinner & Awards 2023.
A highlight of this year was the official Queen’s Award presentation in March 2023. This prominent event was held at Cellomatics’ new lab facility and included both the Lord Mayor of Nottingham, Cllr Wendy Smith, and the Lord Lieutenant of Nottingham, Sir John Peace.
Looking to the future
The last couple of years, including 2022 and 2023, have witnessed a significant decline in Biotech financing which ultimately feeds on to supporting the CROs and other service providers. Small/emerging biotechs are severely cash strapped and therefore feel the pressure of focussing on specific priorities to minimise risk. However, it gives me much solace to know that despite these challenging and adverse existing market conditions, innovation capacity of the industry remains strong in the long-term. With that note I remain optimistic about continuing our growth trajectory in 2024.
Capitalising on our existing strengths and internal team expertise, we intend to further consolidate our position as a specialist Biology CRO by broadening and deepening our service offerings in 2024. With new appointments and internal restructuring, we are adequately poised to catapult ourselves to the next phase of our growth journey.
Industry trends suggest a continuing interest in utilising the benefits of gene editing for therapeutic management of medical conditions with unmet need with emphasis on viral infections, neurological ailments and metabolic diseases. These are some of the areas that Cellomatics Biosciences will continue to innovate within the next year. Last but not the least, there are quite a few interesting announcements to be made in 2024 so please keep watching this space.
