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Emulsi Biotech raises SEK 7M pre-seed to advance oral delivery for biologics

What's the deal? Swedish life science startup Emulsi BiotechDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has closed a pre-seed round of 7,000,000 SEK (about $727,909) to develop oral delivery technology for biological drugs.

The round was led by BSV VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, with Almi Invest and two angel investors taking part.

Biological drugs are usually injected because they break down in the gut. Emulsi's lipid-based platform aims to make them work as a pill instead.

Why now? The capital will fund in vivo studies to prove the platform's efficacy and safety.

Clearing that milestone would open the door to clinical development. Emulsi plans to expand its lab in Lund's biotech ecosystem ahead of the trials.

What could go wrong? Oral delivery of biologics has long been called pharma's "holy grail" — many have tried and failed against poor bioavailability and harsh gastrointestinal conditions.

The technology is still unproven in animals, let alone humans, and a pre-seed sum buys limited runway.

The signal: Backing an early-stage team with self-assembling lipid mixtures for controlled drug delivery, BSV Ventures and state-backed Almi Invest are wagering that a fix to biologics' "holy grail" oral problem can emerge from outside big pharma. That two investment funds anchored a pre-seed round in Lund's biotech cluster signals growing institutional appetite for science-led platforms still years from the clinic.

Read more: Medicon Village

Image credit: "Laboratory technician assigned to Naval" by U.S. Navy Medicine is marked with CC0 1.0. To view the terms, visit https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/.

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