FibroFind acquired to drive global growth in drug development
Published on: 13 May 2025
FibroFind, a Newcastle University spin-out, has been acquired by private equity firm Vespa Capital in a move set to accelerate the company’s international growth.
The company, which brings decades of academic research into the commercial drug development space, is a recognised leader in pre-clinical testing for fibrotic diseases affecting the liver, kidney and lung. FibroFind is helping to transform how new medicines are tested before reaching human trials.
Pre-clinical testing involves laboratory techniques that assess the safety and effectiveness of potential drugs before they are used in people. These models help predict how a drug will behave in the body and whether it is likely to succeed or fail in later-stage trials.
Fibrosis is a condition where healthy tissue becomes damaged and is gradually replaced with scar tissue. This thickened, stiff tissue stops organs from working properly and can lead to serious, sometimes life-threatening illness. Fibrosis can affect many parts of the body and currently there are very few effective treatments available.
Founded in 2019 by Newcastle University scientists Professors Jelena Mann, Derek Mann, Fiona Oakley and Dr Lee Borthwick, FibroFind’s mission is to support the development of treatments that can prevent, slow down, or even reverse this harmful scarring process.
The company does this by:
- Conducting research for pharmaceutical companies
- Providing advanced lab models that mimic organ-specific fibrosis
- Helping drug developers make earlier and more informed decisions
Professor Jelena Mann, CEO of FibroFind and Professor of Epigenetics at Newcastle University, said: “Partnering with Vespa Capital is an exciting next step for FibroFind. We are already seeing strong global demand for our platform, and this investment allows us to scale our operations, broaden our scientific reach, and expand the impact we can have on drug development.”
She added, “As regulators and the pharmaceutical industry move away from animal models, our technology offers human-relevant testing that delivers better data and faster decisions.”
Human tissue models
At the heart of FibroFind’s innovation is its patented Precision Cut Tissue Slice (PCTS) platform. This system keeps real human tissue samples alive in the lab, preserving both their structure and function. Compared to traditional animal or cell-line testing, this allows for more accurate and reliable results - giving drug developers a clearer picture of how their medicines will perform in real patients.
The company’s work is supported by a growing global demand for better, more predictive pre-clinical testing methods. With increasing regulation and a growing body of scientific evidence in favour of human tissue-based models, FibroFind is well placed to meet this need.
With the backing of Vespa Capital, the company now plans to expand its technology to include more tissue types and broaden its services in both drug discovery and pre-clinical testing.
FibroFind recently won the Bionow Internationalisation Award and continues to publish in top-tier scientific journals, reinforcing its strong academic roots.
David Forbes, Partner at Vespa Capital, said: “FibroFind is a unique and highly regarded business in a fast-growing part of the life sciences sector. The platform that Professor Mann and Dr Borthwick have developed enables drug developers to move into clinical trials with greater confidence, potentially saving hundreds of millions of pounds in failed trials. We are excited to support the company’s next phase of growth.”
Academic papers from FibroFind
Find out more about Vespa Capital
