{"id":91333,"date":"2025-12-03T14:38:43","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T14:38:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/immobazyme-secures-r25m-for-local-biopharma-growth"},"modified":"2025-12-03T15:32:28","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T15:32:28","slug":"immobazyme-secures-r25m-for-local-biopharma-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/immobazyme-secures-r25m-for-local-biopharma-growth","title":{"rendered":"Immobazyme Secures R25M for Local Biopharma Growth"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. <\/strong><\/span><b>South African biotech startup Immobazyme has secured an additional R25m ($1.45m) in growth funding, bringing its total capital raised to date to R50m (approx. $2.9m).<\/b><\/p>\n<p>This round was led by the University Technology Fund (UTF II), with participation from returning investor University of Stellenbosch Enterprises (USE) and new strategic backer Fireball Capital.<\/p>\n<p>This investment comes at a time when Africa\u2019s biotech sector faces growing pressure to localize supply chains. The continent currently relies heavily on imports for most of its pharmaceutical needs \u2014 including active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) \u2014 making it susceptible to global supply disruptions and currency fluctuations.<\/p>\n<p>Immobazyme plans to use the new funds to complete a 1,800m2 facility in Cape Town and to further develop its proprietary therapeutics program.<\/p>\n<p>About Immobazyme<\/p>\n<p>Founded in 2019 by scientists Dominic Nicholas, Ethan Hunter, and Nicholas Enslin, Immobazyme started as a spin-off from Stellenbosch University.<\/p>\n<p>The company specializes in precision fermentation. Its platform technology enables the design, optimization, and scaling of biologics\u2014specifically recombinant growth factors, peptides, and enzymes.<\/p>\n<p>In simpler terms, Immobazyme engineers microorganisms to produce complex proteins. These biologics are vital components across various industries, including cultivated meat (food), cosmetics, research, and, most importantly, high-value therapeutics.<\/p>\n<p>Though Immobazyme has already established revenue by supplying enzymes and growth factors to industrial clients, this new funding is aimed at expanding into higher-value pharmaceutical applications.<\/p>\n<p>Market Context<\/p>\n<p>The investment landscape for African biotech has evolved since the pandemic. After the logistical challenges faced during Covid-19, investors are increasingly focused on backing infrastructure initiatives that promote regional self-sufficiency.<\/p>\n<p>Immobazyme\u2019s CEO Dominic Nicholas emphasizes the company\u2019s ambition to close the gap in local manufacturing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur platform is already showing tangible results, and we\u2019re nearing solutions for some of the most complex challenges in biologics,\u201d said Nicholas.<\/p>\n<p>The startup\u2019s business model focuses on cost-effectiveness. Biologics are typically expensive to produce, often requiring large bioreactors and intricate purification methods. Immobazyme claims its platform reduces these costs, making local production viable in a price-sensitive market.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Gambia<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. South African biotech startup Immobazyme has secured an additional R25m ($1.45m) in growth funding, bringing its total capital raised to date to R50m (approx. $2.9m). This round was led by the University Technology Fund (UTF II), with participation from returning investor University of Stellenbosch Enterprises (USE) and new strategic backer Fireball Capital. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":91332,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,9],"tags":[260],"class_list":["post-91333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-miscellaneous","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Immobazyme Secures R25M for Local Biopharma Growth - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"South African biotech startup Immobazyme has secured an additional R25m ($1.45m) in growth funding, bringing its tota ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/immobazyme-secures-r25m-for-local-biopharma-growth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Immobazyme Secures R25M for Local Biopharma Growth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"South African biotech startup Immobazyme has secured an additional R25m ($1.45m) in growth funding, bringing its tota ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/immobazyme-secures-r25m-for-local-biopharma-growth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-03T14:38:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-03T15:32:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/sm_1764763310.535951.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/immobazyme-secures-r25m-for-local-biopharma-growth#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/immobazyme-secures-r25m-for-local-biopharma-growth\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Immobazyme Secures R25M for Local Biopharma Growth\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-03T14:38:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-03T15:32:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/immobazyme-secures-r25m-for-local-biopharma-growth\"},\"wordCount\":352,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/immobazyme-secures-r25m-for-local-biopharma-growth#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/sm_1764763310.535951.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"miscellaneous\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/immobazyme-secures-r25m-for-local-biopharma-growth#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/immobazyme-secures-r25m-for-local-biopharma-growth\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/immobazyme-secures-r25m-for-local-biopharma-growth\",\"name\":\"Immobazyme Secures R25M for Local Biopharma Growth - 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