Collagen-based innovation for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (Andrew Mearns Spragg, Jellagen)

Founded in 2015, Jellagen is a UK-based biotechnology company that develops, manufactures, and supplies medical grade Collagen Type 0, a chemically ancient “stem collagen” derived from jellyfish for use in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

Our mission and vision is building on sustainable marine sources for critical biomaterials which do not carry the environmental and human health risks of traditional collagen sources. Through the application of its proprietary technologies and expertise in the field of collagen, Jellagen has built an extensive IP portfolio and substantial datasets demonstrating the unique advantages of its Collagen Type 0 over mammalian collagens for medical applications. Jellagen offers its scientific and commercial partners the opportunity to utilise Collagen Type 0 as an innovative biomaterial platform for a range of medical applications.

Jellagen is led by a world-class team with experience across science, pharma, biotech, medical devices and investment banking. They bring strong commercial scientific, medical, clinical, and market development along with excellent commercial and business expertise. Our specialist R&D team has over thirty years of expertise and know-how in biopolymer chemistry enabling innovative approaches to collagen fabrication.

Jellagen is a highly R&D intensive business and, having spent several years developing the extraction and manufacturing processes for Collagen Type 0, we are now developing a series of medical products based on Collagen Type 0 in the fields of tissue regeneration, with a particular focus on wound care and the treatment of injuries and debilitating human disease. Jellagen also sells collagen Type 0 into research markets, where it is used to provide a scaffold for growing cells in a range of scientific areas.

As such, the company’s main activities are:

• Manufacturing and operating process development for the scalable extraction of purified Type 0 collagen

• Development of new collagen Type 0 containing medical devices and medical products

• Scientific research into material properties of Collagen Type 0, particularly focused on differentiation from mammalian collagens and human tissue applications.

Dr Andrew Mearns Spragg is a marine biotechnology pioneer and entrepreneur with >20 years experience in the creation of companies involved with the commercial exploitation of marine biotechnology innovation.

Andrew holds a first-class BSc degree in Microbiology and PhD in Marine Biotechnology from Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh. He was awarded a Royal Society of Edinburgh Enterprise Fellowship at St. Andrews University in 2000 to support the creation of his first marine biotechnology enterprise, Aquapharm Biodiscovery Ltd to bio-prospect and develop novel biologically active natural products from marine micro-organisms.

Andrew has successfully raised to date over >£20M in equity finance from VCs and Angels and has secured competitive grant funding from EU and UK sources worth >£3M. He was the recipient of the 2007 Gannochy Award and Medal from the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland’s highest award for Innovation and his entrepreneurial achievements were further recognised through winning the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the year 2008 in Health Care for Scotland.

Andrew founded Jellagen Ltd in 2015, where he has helped raised more than £16M in private financing, established in-house collagen standards and first data sets. He also built the first ISO13485:2016 certified manufacturing plant to produce a highly purified jellyfish collagen next generation biomaterial supporting tissue engineering and medical device innovation. Andrew is dedicated and focused to developing the scientific potential of the company and is a member of the Executive Committee, responsible for Scientific and Technology strategy, Product Development and Business Development activities.

Andrew was elected a member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s Young Academy from 2011 – 2015 and holds Honorary Professorships from the University of Stirling (2012-2016) and University of the Highlands and Islands (2012 – Present). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, and the Royal Society of Biology