Company Directory

Liquid handling consumables, pipettes, and calibration services

Starlab supplies liquid handling consumables and laboratory equipment to research institutions, hospitals, universities, and life science companies across the UK. Its product range includes pipette tips, multi-channel pipettes, PCR consumables, cell culture ware, tubes, gloves, and benchtop equipment. The company also operates Caltech, a UKAS-accredited pipette calibration and servicing facility covering all makes and models.

Global supplier of instruments and reagents for cell research and therapy

Miltenyi Biotec is a company developing and supplying instruments, reagents and services supporting biomedical research and cell and gene therapy manufacturing. Its product portfolio spans magnetic-activated cell separation, flow cytometry, cell culture, molecular analysis and preclinical imaging, with clinical-grade systems including automated cell processing platforms widely used in transplantation and CAR-T cell manufacturing. Founded in Germany in 1989, the company operates a UK subsidiary and serves academic, clinical and biopharmaceutical customers across the country.

Therapeutics to restore egg quality and improve IVF outcomes

U-Ploid Biotechnologies is an early-stage biotechnology company developing first-in-class therapeutics to address age-related decline in egg quality. Its lead programme targets chromosomal instability in human oocytes which is a primary driver of IVF failure, miscarriage, and congenital disorders in women of advanced maternal age. Treatments are designed to integrate into existing assisted reproduction procedures. U-Ploid is based at the Bioescalator incubator on Oxford University's Old Road Campus.

Independent UK distributor of laboratory equipment, chemicals and consumables

Scientific Laboratory Supplies is the UK's largest independent distributor of laboratory equipment, chemicals, and consumables, supplying over 600,000 products from leading manufacturers to research, pharmaceutical, and industrial laboratory customers. The company also manufactures its own consumable and chemical ranges under the SLS Select brand, and provides laboratory equipment services including installation, validation, calibration, and maintenance through its UK service division.

Oxford University spinout producing cultivated beef and pork

Ivy Farm Technologies is a company developing cultivated meat using a non-GMO cell culture process originally developed at the University of Oxford. Its Oxford pilot plant operates a 600-litre bioreactor with capacity to produce 2.8 tonnes of cultivated meat annually, with products including beef burgers, sausages and meatballs. The company has raised approximately $40 million in total funding and is pursuing regulatory approval through the UK FSA novel food process alongside international market entry.

Cold chain and laboratory storage equipment for life sciences

Haier Biomedical is the UK sales, service and distribution arm of Haier Biomedical, a Chinese manufacturer of laboratory and biomedical storage equipment headquartered in Qingdao and part of the Haier Group. The company supplies ultra-low temperature freezers, blood bank refrigerators, biosafety cabinets, pharmacy refrigerators and cryogenic storage systems to hospitals, biobanks, universities and pharmaceutical manufacturers. Its product range also encompasses IoT-enabled monitoring and laboratory automation solutions.

Automated single-cell isolation and cloning instruments for cell biology

Iota Sciences is a developer of automated single-cell handling instruments and cell-line engineering services. The company's platform automates single-cell isolation and cloning in nanolitre volumes, supporting monoclonal cell line development with integrated viability monitoring and documentation. GRID Technology provides a microfluidic alternative to standard microtitre plates for cell culture workflows. Services include bespoke genome-engineering of induced pluripotent stem cell lines for researchers requiring precisely edited cell models.

Microcarrier platform enabling adherent cell screening for drug discovery

Semarion is an advanced materials engineering company developing microcarriers for adherent cell assays in drug discovery workflows. Fabricated using microchip-style microfabrication techniques, Semarion develops magnetically steerable cell carriers that enable small colonies of adherent cells to be moved, pooled, and optically barcoded within standard microplate formats. The platform supports multiplexing, cryopreservation, and high-content imaging workflows for cell panel screening applications.

AI-designed serum-free cell culture media for biomanufacturing

Multus Biotechnology is a UK developer and manufacturer of serum-free, animal-component-free cell culture media and growth media ingredients. The company combines machine learning and high-throughput robotic automation to design and optimise custom media formulations for specific cell types across cultivated meat, advanced therapy medicinal products, and broader biomanufacturing applications. Media is manufactured to food-safety standards from a certified facility in London.

GLP-accredited animal-free safety and efficacy testing for cosmetics and chemicals

XCellR8 is a contract research organisation providing exclusively animal-free safety and efficacy testing services to the cosmetics, personal care, and chemical industries. Operating from a GLP-accredited laboratory at Sci-Tech Daresbury, the company uses human cell culture systems to deliver regulatory tests for skin and eye irritation, skin sensitisation, corrosion, genotoxicity, and cytotoxicity, all conducted without animal-derived materials. Its methods have received regulatory recognition from OECD and ECHA.

Cultivated chicken meat produced from egg cells for pet food

Meatly is a cellular agriculture company producing cultivated chicken meat for the pet food industry. Using cells taken from a chicken egg, the company grows real chicken protein in bioreactors using a proprietary protein-free culture medium, without slaughter, GMOs, or antibiotics. In 2024 Meatly became the first company in Europe to receive regulatory clearance to sell cultivated meat, supplied as a B2B ingredient to pet food manufacturers.

Engineered bacterial protein polymers for cell culture and cultivated meat

MarraBio is a biotechnology company developing engineered Caf1-based protein polymers as xeno-free, thermostable alternatives to extracellular matrix proteins and growth factors used in mammalian cell culture. Its proprietary platform enables scalable, cost-effective production of multifunctional materials that provide cells with the signals required for growth and division. Applications span biomedical research, cell therapy manufacturing, and cultivated meat production.