The SimCell story
About Us
Oxford SimCell Ltd. is a spin-out from the University of Oxford, created to tackle some of the biggest challenges in healthcare today.
SimCell® for human health
Living systems, like bacterial cells, are sophisticated and versatile but can be difficult to direct and control. Like all living things, they grow. Our novel SimCell® technology platform lets us leverage the complexity of whole cells for use in safeguarding human health, with no risk of growth.
A SimCell® retains almost all the key features of a living bacterial cell but is unable to replicate, capturing the capabilities of a whole cell in a stable form useful for in vitro and in vivo applications.
SimCells® are derived directly from bacterial cells, which may be engineered for useful functions such as biosensing, drug delivery, and cell-surface display. Creating SimCells® does not damage proteins or other cellular components, so cell-surface molecules, enzymes, and other important features act as they would in a living cell.
The Oxford SimCell team has combined experience in synthetic biology, bioprocessing, business development, and the creation and deployment of novel technologies within the heathcare sector.
Team Members
CEO
Former Business Manager of the Ultrasound, Healthcare Siemens Ltd., China with 18+ years of business development and management experience. He oversaw a business operation team of more than 110 employees and had achieved more than 800 million RMB (~£100 million) in gross revenue during his tenure.
COO
Former Head of R&D of Oxsed and the inventor of its COVID-19 testing product. She has 9+ years of research experience in bioengineering and 4+ years of project management experience across academic and industry. During her tenure in Oxsed, she oversaw the development of 4 CE-marked IVD products and established its ISO’s quality management systems, including ISO13485 and ISO15189. She obtained her Ph.D in Material Sciences from Imperial College London.
CTO
DPhil graduate in Synthetic Biology from Oxford University. He is the co-inventor of the SimCell patent and has been working on SimCell’s medical applications throughout his DPhil. Prior to Oxford SimCell, he served as a venture consultant in an established venture capital firm in their biotechnology investing arm. He also led the product development and operation of Oxsed, a social enterprise spun out from Oxford University to commercialise a COVID-19 rapid diagnostic kit.
Senior Scientist
Previous Postdoctoral Research Scientist at Oxford University with more than 10 years of research experience, particularly in cell physiology, cancer biology and molecular biology. She obtained her Ph.D in Basic Medical Sciences from the National Cheng-Kung University, Taiwan.
CSO
A chemical engineer and synthetic biologist with 8+ years of manufacturing and R&D experience across industry and academia. Joseph previously worked at Oxford BioMedica in GMP production of lentiviral vectors for Kymriah, Novartis’ world-first CAR-T cell therapy product. Before Oxford SimCell, he consulted as a subject matter expert for a large international venture capital firm, and developed quality management systems as quality manager at Oxsed. He received his DPhil in Engineering Science from the University of Oxford, for research into the directed evolution of microbes.