Neion Bio raises $23M to advance egg-based biologics manufacturing platform
New York-based biotechnology company Neion Bio has raised an oversubscribed $23 million Series A financing to advance its biologics manufacturing platform and expand its pipeline of products spanning biosimilars, novel therapeutics, critical reagents, and animal health applications.
Neion Bio uses genetically engineered chickens to produce biologic medicines in unfertilized eggs, positioning the platform as an alternative to traditional Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell manufacturing systems commonly used in biopharmaceutical production.
“Significant advances in foundational engineering tools in biology are enabling Neion Bio to unlock the next bioindustrial revolution,” co-founder and CEO Dimi Kellari said in a statement. “We are grateful to partner with forward-thinking deep technology investors who share our conviction in both the challenges facing biologics manufacturing today and the opportunity to fundamentally reshape it.”
According to the company, the platform is designed to leverage the protein production capabilities of chicken eggs to manufacture complex glycosylated proteins in a scalable and potentially lower-cost system. Neion contends the approach could reduce capital requirements associated with large-scale biologics facilities, while enabling faster production cycles and improved supply chain resiliency.
The company said the funding will support further development of its Raptor platform, including technologies intended to enable biologics production at meaningful scale within days. Neion also plans to expand development programs focused on difficult-to-express proteins and biologics that may be challenging to manufacture using conventional approaches.
The funding follows several recent milestones for the company, including its emergence from stealth earlier this year and the execution of its first commercial co-development and supply agreement with a major pharmaceutical company focused on biosimilars development.