Manchester BIOGEL

What Manchester BIOGEL does

Manchester BIOGEL (legal entity: Manchester BIOGEL Limited, registered in England) designs and manufactures synthetic self-assembling peptide hydrogels for life science research, headquartered at Mereside, Alderley Park, Alderley Edge, Cheshire, UK. The company was founded in 2014 (originally as PeptiGelDesign Ltd) by Professors Aline Miller and Alberto Saiani, originating from licensed IP and know-how from The University of Manchester. Its core platform produces chemically defined, animal-free, ready-to-use hydrogels with no batch-to-batch variability that mimic the natural extracellular matrix, supporting 2D and 3D cell culture, tissue regeneration, drug discovery, and regenerative medicine applications. The product portfolio includes the PeptiGels® 3D scaffold line (with Alpha series and functionalised variants), PeptiInks® bioinks optimised for piston-driven 3D bioprinters, and supporting items such as PeptiSol® dilution solution, Mechanical Kits (variable stiffness), and Starter Packs. Manufacturing is conducted on-site at Alderley Park from millilitre to tens-of-litres scale under quality management systems commensurate with ISO 13485:2016.

The company operates a primarily direct, catalogue-based go-to-market with quote-based pricing; customers request quotes online or via phone/email, and orders are shipped globally. A Bespoke Design Service supplements catalogue revenue by working with researchers to tune mechanical and chemical properties for custom applications. End users are principally life science researchers in academia and pharma/biotech working in cell culture, disease modeling, drug discovery, 3D bioprinting, and regenerative medicine; named customer evidence is predominantly academic, with limited enterprise biotech adoption visible. Strategic academic and capital partners include The University of Manchester (core IP licensor), Imperial College London (Innovate UK KTP), Deepbridge Capital, Catapult Ventures, and KERO Ltd. The management team is small (8-15 employees as of the most recent disclosure), including founders, a Financial Controller, Business Development Manager, production and senior scientists, a Postdoctoral Researcher, and an Innovate KTP Fellow.

Name

Manchester BIOGEL

Legal name

Manchester BIOGEL Limited

Website

https://manchesterbiogel.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Manchester BIOGEL designs and manufactures synthetic self-assembling peptide hydrogels (PeptiGels® and PeptiInks®) for 2D/3D cell culture, bioprinting, tissue regeneration, and drug discovery, serving academic and commercial life science researchers globally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Life Science Research Tools / Biomaterials

NAICS

Plastics Product Manufacturing (3261), Research and Development in Nanotechnology (541713)

SIC

Medicinal Chemicals & Botanical Products (2833)

akta.pro primary industry

Tissue-Engineered Constructs & Scaffolds (natural/synthetic biomaterials) (HLAAAGAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

3D Bioprinting & Biofabrication (HLAAAGAC)

Keywords

• Synthetic peptide hydrogels
• 3D cell culture scaffolds
• Bioprinting bioinks
• Tissue engineering materials
• Extracellular matrix mimetics

Headquarters

HQ city

Alderley Edge

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. PeptiGels® Product Sales: Sale of ready-to-use synthetic peptide hydrogels for 2D and 3D cell culture applications. Products are supplied in catalogue form and through custom orders. Revenue generated from product catalogue sales and bespoke/custom orders.
2. PeptiInks® Product Sales: Sale of bioink products optimized for 3D bioprinting applications. Piston driven bioprinter compatible hydrogels.
3. Bespoke Design Service: Custom hydrogel design service for customers with specific mechanical and chemical requirements. Consulting and custom product development revenue.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Manchester BIOGEL designs and manufactures synthetic self-assembling peptide hydrogels (PeptiGels®) that serve as ready-to-use 3D scaffolds for cell culture, tissue regeneration, and drug discovery. The company also supplies PeptiInks® bioinks for 3D bioprinting and offers a Bespoke Design Service to engineer hydrogels with fully tunable mechanical and chemical properties for customer-specific research applications.

Product overview

Manchester BIOGEL offers a portfolio of synthetic peptide hydrogels for life science applications. The core offerings are PeptiGels® (3D cell culture scaffolds) and PeptiInks® (bioinks for 3D bioprinting), complemented by a Bespoke Design Service for custom-tuned hydrogels. Supporting products include PeptiSol® for dilution, Mechanical Kits for stiffness studies, and Starter Packs for product evaluation. All products are animal-free, chemically defined, and designed for 2D/3D cell culture, bioprinting, and drug discovery with no batch-to-batch variation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• PeptiGels® Synthetic peptide hydrogels that serve as ready-to-use 3D scaffolds for cell culture, providing a biologically relevant extracellular matrix environment for 2D and 3D cell culture, tissue regeneration, and drug discovery applications. Cells can be added directly at room temperature.
• PeptiInks® Peptide-based bioinks optimised for 3D bioprinting, enabling both cell viability and printability with piston-driven bioprinters. Form chemically defined, tunable hydrogels for tissue engineering.
• Bespoke Design Service Custom hydrogel design service where the mechanical and chemical functionality of hydrogels can be fully tuned to meet specific customer research requirements for optimal cell culture conditions. Customers work directly with the expert team.
• PeptiSol® Specially formulated solution for diluting PeptiGels® to achieve desired mechanical strength for specific experimental requirements.
• Mechanical Kits Sets containing three PeptiGels® with varying stiffness properties for experiments investigating how hydrogel stiffness affects cell behaviour.
• Starter Pack Kit containing five PeptiGels® with a range of mechanical and functional properties for initial testing to identify the most suitable hydrogel for specific cell types.

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Imperial College LondoncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 August 2020Launch of Innovate UK funded KTP (Knowledge Transfer Partnership) project in August 2020. Dariusz Lachowski is the Innovate KTP Fellow working between Alderley Park and Imperial College London, transferring experimental expertise in cancer biology and mechanobiology to the company.
• The University of ManchestercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Original IP and know-how licensed from The University of Manchester in 2014. Co-founders Professors Aline Miller and Alberto Saiani are affiliated with the university. The partnership provides the foundational technology platform for PeptiGels® and PeptiInks® products. In 2017, the materials platform technology was extended to include functional materials through continued collaboration.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Corning Life Sciences: Major life science tools and cell culture consumables provider (including Matrigel® matrix). The dominant incumbent in 3D cell culture matrices; MBG is positioning its animal-free PeptiGels® as a defined, reproducible alternative to Corning's legacy animal-derived products.

Direct peers

• InSphero AG: Swiss company providing 3D cell culture microtissue models for drug discovery and disease research. Comparable as a tools provider serving pharma/biotech researchers replacing 2D/animal models with 3D culture systems, where MBG's PeptiGels® can serve as the underlying scaffold.
• Aspect Biosystems: Canadian bioprinting company developing bioinks and microfluidic 3D bioprinting platforms for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Comparable in the PeptiInks® use case of bioink-supplied 3D bioprinting for therapeutic applications.
• CELLINK (BICO Group): Global leader in 3D bioprinting and bioinks. Directly comparable because both companies sell bioink formulations for tissue engineering and 3D bioprinting applications, addressing overlapping researcher and pharma customers.
• Cellendes GmbH: German biomaterials company producing synthetic, modular hydrogels (e.g., PEG-based) for 3D cell culture and tissue engineering. Comparable as a competitor offering chemically defined, animal-free hydrogel scaffolding materials to life science researchers.
• QGel SA: Switzerland-based developer of synthetic peptide hydrogels for 3D cell culture and drug screening. Closely comparable to Manchester BIOGEL because both offer chemically defined, animal-free peptide hydrogel platforms targeting pharma drug discovery and tumour/organoid culture.

Emerging players

• Organovo Holdings: US-based 3D bioprinting company focused on functional human tissue constructs for drug discovery and therapeutic applications. Comparable in bioprinting and tissue-engineered construct end-use, though at a more vertically integrated, early commercial stage.
• MIMETAS BV: Dutch organ-on-chip company developing 3D tissue models for drug screening. Overlaps with MBG as a 3D cell culture tooling supplier for pharma; MBG hydrogels can serve as a substrate for MIMETAS-style organ-on-chip workflows.
• Regemat3D: Spanish bioprinting company offering bioinks and bioprinters for regenerative medicine. Comparable as a smaller, focused bioprinting tools provider targeting tissue engineering researchers, paralleling MBG's PeptiInks® offering.

Regional players

• AMSBIO: UK-based distributor and manufacturer of cell culture matrices, scaffolds, and 3D culture reagents. Comparable as a regional supplier of hydrogel/matrix tools for life science research, competing for the same UK and European academic and pharma customers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

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Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Manchester BIOGEL