Shedding light on cellular metabolism
Biocell Energetics
Dr Jonathan Barlow, an expert in cellular bioenergetics with the School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences sought help from Birmingham Enterprise after his work on cell metabolism started receiving attention from therapeutics companies. Enterprise first helped him to establish consultancy contracts with new clients. After gaining insight into the commercial potential of his research, Dr Barlow established an Operating Division, called Biocell Energetics, in 2024.
Biocell Energetics provides real-time metabolic profiling and testing services to major industries. As well as offering drug discovery and toxicology services to pharmaceutical companies, it aims to help athletes optimise performance. By exploring how their cells generate and use energy, it can unlock insights into how they respond to training and injury. “We want to be able to provide a sensitive test that clubs can run frequently through a season, to check that athletes’ immune cells are functioning right,” Dr Barlow explains. “We can then provide information on recovery strategies, and potentially inform performance outcomes.”
Another potential market is the fast-growing cultivated meat industry. Several forecasts predict that it will represent a double-digit share of the global meat market by 2040, but the industry is struggling with high costs, and still relies on foetal bovine serum to formulate lab-grown meat. As companies explore plant-based alternatives to cultivate meat in labs, a market is opening up for Biocell Energetics to provide analysis on cellular metabolism and growth.
Dr Barlow says that establishing an Operating Division will help Biocell Energetics build a footprint in its target markets.
One of the barriers in developing relationships with therapeutics companies is that they want to work with companies and not universities. Having an Operating Division gives you the face of a company, without actually setting up a company. It has also de-risked the process. It gives us the freedom to test markets, and start generating more interest from companies, before we raise funding.
Enterprise’s Entrepreneur-in-Residence John Cook is working with Biocell Energetics to develop a business model and establish a network among investors and sports clubs. “That’s been helpful to understand how we approach those markets and what our offering is,” Dr Barlow notes. “John is very well connected, so he’s brought in potential future investors for discussions, and is building a new network of people that I didn’t have before.”