Alcyomics

What Alcyomics does

Alcyomics is a UK-based preclinical contract research organisation (CRO) founded in 2009 as a spinout from Newcastle University. The company provides human-based in vitro immunology and skin sensitisation assays for safety and efficacy testing. Its proprietary platform, Skimune®, is a non-animal human skin explant assay that uses autologous blood cells to evaluate immune responses, drug hypersensitivity and compound safety. The platform is sold into pharmaceutical, cosmetics, chemicals, medical device and cellular therapy customers, with named commercial relationships reported at top-10 global pharma firms including Pfizer and GSK.

The company operates a fee-for-service business model, charging per study and per compound screened. Commercial revenue is supplemented by grant income from UK and EU funding bodies — cumulative grant funding is reported above £2.5 million — while direct equity-style investment is comparatively small at roughly £450k from North Star Ventures and One North East. The customer base sits in regulated industries requiring OECD- and GLP-aligned safety testing, where Skimune® is positioned as a non-animal alternative aligned with the EU cosmetics animal-testing ban and similar regulatory tailwinds globally.

Alcyomics holds granted patents in the United States and European Union for its Skin Explant Assay and Skin Model. The company operates under ISO 9001 certification with GLP compliance, and the platform is reported to have been validated across more than 200 compounds with 80-90% accuracy, supported by over 100 peer-reviewed publications. With a named management team of approximately five leaders, Alcyomics presents as a focused, science-led niche CRO rather than a scaled platform business.

Name

Alcyomics

Legal name

Alcyomics Ltd.

Website

https://alcyomics.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Alcyomics is a UK-based preclinical CRO spun out of Newcastle University in 2009, offering the Skimune® human skin explant assay for safety and efficacy testing across pharmaceutical, cosmetics, chemicals and medical device sectors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Contract Research Services / Preclinical Safety Testing

NAICS

Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

SIC

Services-Testing Laboratories (8734), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYHLAGADAH

Cell-Based & Potency Assays (Bioassays)

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Life Science Tools & Services (CRO/CDMO/Lab Services)/Laboratory Testing & Analytical Services

SECONDARYHLAGAEAB

Specialty & Biomarker Laboratory Services (Immunoassays/Flow/Cytometry)

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Life Science Tools & Services (CRO/CDMO/Lab Services)/Central Labs & Clinical Diagnostics Services (Trial Support)

Keywords

• In vitro immunotoxicity testing
• Contract research services
• Human skin explant assays
• Non-animal drug safety testing
• Preclinical efficacy testing

Headquarters

HQ city

Newcastle Upon Tyne

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Contract Research Services (CRO): Alcyomics provides bespoke contract research services to pharma, biotech, cosmetics, and chemical companies for safety and efficacy testing of compounds and cellular therapies. Projects are scoped and priced individually based on client requirements, deliverables, and assay complexity. The company works to GLP and ISO9001 standards and submits regulatory reports to support clinical trial applications.
2. Grant Funding: Alcyomics has secured over £2.5m in SME grants as lead or collaborator from Innovate UK, NC3Rs CRACK IT, European Commission Horizon 2020/FP7, Finance Birmingham AMSCI, and other UK/EU funding bodies. Grants fund specific technology development programmes rather than operational revenue.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Alcyomics is a UK-based Contract Research Organisation that provides safety and efficacy testing services for pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, chemicals, and cellular therapies using its proprietary Skimune® platform — a non-artificial, ex vivo human skin explant assay combined with autologous blood cells to predict adverse immune reactions including hypersensitivity, GvHD, and immunogenicity. The company complements this with 3D bioprinted tissue models and a suite of immunology, cytotoxicity, and analytical assays sold as fee-for-service contract research.

Product overview

Alcyomics provides novel non-animal, non-artificial human-based in vitro assays for safety and efficacy assessment of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and chemicals. The core offering is the patented Skimune® platform—a human skin explant assay using autologous blood cells to predict adverse immune responses. Supporting the core Skimune® are related products including Skimune® Epi (in vitro reconstructed epidermis for OECD guideline testing), Skimune® AD and Skimune® Epi AD (atopic dermatitis models), and Skimune® 3D (bioprinted 3D skin model). Special programmes include the 3D Osteochondral Model and 3D Innervated Skin Model. The portfolio also encompasses a comprehensive suite of individual services including T-cell proliferation & cytokine analysis, flow cytometry, complement activation, platelet aggregation, antibody aggregation assessment, mixed lymphocyte reactions, monocyte activation testing, cell isolation & phenotyping, analytical services (MSD/Luminex/ELISA/IHC), wound healing assays, senescence/senolytic assays, phototoxicity assays, and ISO 10993-5 cytotoxicity testing. The company works to Good Laboratory Practice and ISO9001 standards, with safety and efficacy reports submitted to regulatory authorities to support clinical trial applications.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Skimune® Ex vivo human skin explant assay using autologous PBMC to predict drug-induced hypersensitivity, immunogenicity, and adverse immune reactions for pharmaceutical and biotech sponsors during preclinical development.
• Skimune® Epi Platform Variant of the Skimune® assay using EpiDerm™ reconstructed human epidermis integrated with autologous immune cells, providing a complementary approach to the full-thickness skin explant model.
• Skimune® AD Application of the Skimune® platform to study adverse immune reactions in an atopic dermatitis disease context.
• Skimune® Epi AD Combined EpiDerm™ reconstructed epidermis and atopic dermatitis application of the Skimune® platform.
• Skimune® 3D 3D-tissue variant of the Skimune® assay using Alvetex® scaffold technology to support more complex tissue architectures for immune response modelling.
• 3D Osteochondral Model Bioprinted 3D osteochondral tissue model used as a disease-state platform for testing and research applications.
• 3D Innervated Skin Model Bioprinted 3D innervated skin model enabling study of neuronal involvement in skin pathology and drug response.
• 3D Skin Models 3D skin models used for histopathological scoring and human-relevant skin-based testing.
• Cell Bioprinting / 3D Tissue Modelling Contract cell bioprinting and 3D tissue modelling services to develop custom tissue constructs for client research programmes.
• T-cell proliferation and Cytokine Analysis Assay service measuring T-cell proliferation and cytokine release as indicators of immune response to test articles.
• Flow Cytometric Analysis Flow cytometry-based analytical service for cell phenotyping, characterisation, and immune response profiling.
• Complement Activation Assay service assessing complement activation as a measure of innate immune response to test articles.
• Platelet Aggregation Assay service for measuring platelet aggregation in response to test articles to assess thrombogenicity and immune-related platelet effects.
• Antibody Aggregation Assessment Assessment of antibody aggregation to support biologics development and characterisation.
• Mixed Lymphocyte Reactions (MLR) MLR assay service to evaluate allogeneic immune reactivity between donor lymphocyte populations.
• Monocyte Activation Test (MAT) Monocyte Activation Test for pyrogenicity testing, providing a non-animal alternative to rabbit pyrogen tests.
• Cell Isolation and Cell Phenotyping Service offering isolation and phenotyping of immune cell populations from donor blood or tissue samples for downstream assays.
• Analytical Services (MSD, Luminex, ELISA & IHC) Analytical services using MSD, Luminex, ELISA, and immunohistochemistry for multi-analyte biomarker and cytokine profiling.
• Wound Healing Assay Wound healing assay service delivering a quantitative measure of the impact of test articles on skin repair processes.
• Senescence / Senolytic Assays Cellular senescence and senolytic assay services for ageing-related research and therapeutics development.
• Phototoxicity Assay Phototoxicity assay service to evaluate test article-induced phototoxic reactions under controlled UV exposure.
• ISO 10993-5 Cytotoxicity ISO 10993-5 cytotoxicity testing service for medical device biocompatibility assessment.

Quantifiable outcome

• Skimune® showed >80% correlation with clinical outcome in GvHD studies used as part of a clinical protocol in Newcastle
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Cell and Gene Therapy CatapultcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Alcyomics collaborated with the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult and the Northern Alliance ATTC on a whitepaper addressing regulations concerning the safety of cellular therapies. This partnership supports Alcyomics' position in the advanced therapies ecosystem.
• Northern Alliance Advanced Therapy Treatment Centre (NA-ATTC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Alcyomics participated in the NA-ATTC (total project value £12,019,741; £425,760 awarded to Alcyomics) focused on advanced therapy treatment. Within this partnership, Alcyomics conducted safety assessments on novel cellular products including an anti-COVID T-cell specific product and tolerogenic dendritic cell therapy for rheumatoid arthritis. A regulatory whitepaper on cellular therapy safety was produced through this partnership.
• CPI (Centre for Process Innovation)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017CPI co-ordinated the AMSCI programme in which Alcyomics participated alongside other advanced manufacturing companies. CPI serves as a technology innovation centre supporting UK manufacturing.
• Newcastle UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2015Alcyomics originated as a spinout from Newcastle University, founded by Prof. Anne Dickinson from her research at the institution. The company maintains a close collaborative relationship including joint patent filings (P207153EP, US10,408,848) for skin model technology. The partnership provides ongoing access to academic research expertise, infrastructure, and talent.
• NC3Rs (National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNC3Rs CRACK IT Innovation programme sponsored the development of the 3D Osteochondral Model in partnership with GSK and co-funded by Arthritis Research UK and EPSRC. Alcyomics subsequently received an NC3Rs Business Growth Scheme (BGS) project to commercialise the OA model. Dr Cathy Vickers, Head of Innovation at NC3Rs, provided public endorsement of the technology.
• GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGSK co-sponsored the NC3Rs CRACK IT Challenge that funded development of the 3D Osteochondral Model (MA-PODS and Microfluidic Co-cultures for OA Modelling projects). GSK's sponsorship of CRACK IT challenges reflects strategic interest in non-animal testing alternatives for drug development.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Cyprotex (Evotec): Preclinical ADME and toxicology CRO, now part of Evotec, providing in vitro safety testing for pharma. Directly comparable as a specialist preclinical safety CRO targeting similar biologics and small molecule customers.
• MatTek Life Sciences: Provider of 3D reconstructed human epidermis (EpiDerm) and other tissue models used for OECD TG#431 and TG#439 skin irritation and corrosivity testing. Directly overlaps Alcyomics' Skimune Epi product line in regulatory skin safety testing.
• Episkin (L'Oréal): Subsidiary of L'Oréal producing reconstructed human epidermis models (EpiSkin, SkinEthic) for in vitro safety and efficacy testing. Directly competes with Skimune Epi in the validated OECD-aligned skin testing market.
• Gentronix: UK-based specialist CRO focused on genetic toxicology and in vitro safety testing, including reporter-based assays. Comparable as a small UK specialist CRO offering NAMs-based preclinical safety services to pharma and chemicals.

Emerging players

• CN Bio Innovations: UK-based organ-on-chip and 3D tissue model company serving pharma drug safety and efficacy testing. Competes with Alcyomics' 3D models (Osteochondral, Innervated Skin) in next-generation NAMs.
• Emulate Inc. US organ-on-chip platform with Liver-Chip and other tissue chips used in pharma preclinical safety. Comparable to Alcyomics as a NAMs alternative to animal models, with broader organ coverage but less focus on skin/immunotoxicity.

Broad incumbents

• Charles River Laboratories: Global CRO with one of the largest preclinical safety and immunotoxicology service portfolios. Comparable to Alcyomics as a buyer of NAMs and a direct competitor for pharma preclinical safety contracts, though much broader and more established.
• Eurofins Scientific: Global testing services group with strong cosmetics and chemical safety testing businesses. Comparable end market (cosmetics, chemicals, pharma) and parallel push into non-animal and in vitro testing alternatives.
• Labcorp (Covance): Full-service CRO with extensive preclinical immunotoxicity, biologics safety, and central laboratory capabilities. Competes for the same pharma and biopharma buyers Alcyomics targets, though at a much larger scale.

Others

• BioIVT: Supplier of human biological specimens and bioservices, including primary cells, PBMCs, and fresh tissues used in in vitro assays. Relevant as both a potential specimen supplier and a partner enabling CRO-style immunotoxicity testing workflows.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/alcyomics
• Xx.com/alcyomics

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Alcyomics