2026 marks an inflection point for the life sciences industry. In March, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued new draft guidance to accelerate the adoption of physiologically relevant models, New Approach Methodologies (NAMs), making a move away from animal testing and toward more predictive, human‑based systems in drug development. I’m already seeing this drive broader adoption across discovery and safety testing.

As researchers increasingly seek integrated, scalable solutions that simplify translational research, Axol Bioscience has spent more than 13 years supporting a global customer base (61% Americas, 29% Europe, 10% UK and ROW) with end-to-end capabilities from patient biosamples and iPSC reprogramming to gene editing, cell differentiation, made-to-order cell models, disease-relevant assays, and off-the-shelf kits with matched media for neuroscience, ocular, cardiac and dermatological research.

In a challenging funding environment, progress depends on focus and building on what works. At Axol Bioscience, we continue to strengthen our leadership in neuroscience while expanding into ophthalmology, dermatology and advanced organoid systems. Our focus on quality, flexibility and industrial-scale manufacturing has driven average annual growth of 39% between 2023 and 2025, with 85% of customers returning over the past 18 months.

We have also collaborated with more than 20 platform partners across MEA, ion channel, calcium imaging, high-content imaging, organ-on-chip and other microphysiological system (MPS) technologies, helping researchers build more predictive and physiologically relevant workflows.

This has been a pivotal first half of the year, with milestones such as the Newcells acquisition, the launch of PRISM ALS, and the U.S. distribution hub opening, which will play an important role in our future development.

Q1: strengthening our foundations

We began the year by strengthening our scientific and operational capabilities. A $2.8 million investment is supporting our expansion in the US, the development of new neuroscience, ophthalmology, and cardiovascular models, and the scale‑up of cell manufacturing.

We shared new data at SLAS and WORD+, including electrophysiological characterization of ALS motor neurons and proof‑of‑concept 3D human brain micro‑tissues, highlighting the value of combining iPSC‑derived cells with advanced platforms.

Our acquisition of the ophthalmology business from Newcells Biotech marked an important step in expanding our retinal portfolio. By bringing together like-minded teams with shared scientific expertise and a common goal of advancing retinal research and ophthalmic drug discovery, we now offer a broader range of iPSC-derived retinal cells, organoids, and assay systems to support drug discovery and safety testing in ophthalmology. The integration of Newcells is now complete, representing our third acquisition in the past four years, and demonstrating our ability to execute and integrate strategic acquisitions to strengthen our platform.

Across neurodegeneration, we continued to build disease‑relevant models. In February at CHDI, we presented data on Huntington’s disease iPSC lines exhibiting CAG repeat instability, enabling longitudinal studies of disease progression. At ADPD, we presented our new poster on modeling ALS with motor neurons.

This quarter also saw the launch of PRISM ALS, a global collaboration with ALS TDI and LifeArc to democratise access to diverse, patient-derived models that better capture the complexity of ALS, including both sporadic and genetic forms. The launch reflects our broader strategy of expanding our portfolio of donor-derived iPSC models through strategic partnerships that support more patient-relevant research. Alongside PRISM ALS, our collaboration with StrataStem has expanded the portfolio with stratified sporadic Alzheimer’s disease iPSC lines and neural stem cell models representing multiple APOE genotypes.

Beyond neuroscience and ophthalmology, our iPSC‑derived cardiomyocytes from male and female donor lines continued to demonstrate robust performance in drug discovery and cardiotoxicity assessment, with chamber‑specific phenotypes and reproducible functional readouts, supported by our MyoMax™ maturation media.

Q2: translating capability into application

In Q2, we focused on applying these models in physiologically relevant workflows and strengthening our engagement with the global research community.

Our new whitepaper on iPSC‑derived retinal systems demonstrates how retinal pigment epithelium, microglia, and organoids are used to study disease mechanisms, toxicity, and therapeutic response. Retinal organoids, available at defined maturation stages, enable studies of development, function, and drug permeability in structured, human‑derived systems.

We also launched our latest iPSCs and NAMs Technology Journal at the MPS World Summit, showcasing reproducible, high‑throughput workflows built on iPSC‑derived systems. These included engineered cardiac tissues, neuronal network electrophysiology, and ALS disease models, developed with leading platform partners to support predictive drug discovery and safety pharmacology.

In June, we presented new data at the Hanson Wade ALS Summit in Boston, demonstrating that the co-culture of iPSC-derived ALS motor neurons with astrocytes and microglia creates a more physiologically relevant disease model by promoting earlier network synchronisation.

Throughout this period, we were active at key scientific meetings, including ARVO, ELRIG Drug Discovery USA, Target ALS, Danaher Summit, EuroOcs, and BIO International Convention, sharing data, building collaborations, and engaging with the research community.

Alongside the progress we made across our scientific programmes, we continued to invest in the long-term growth of the business. This included joining the British Chambers of Commerce Trade Accelerator Programme and forming a new collaboration with CellVoyant to advance AI-guided predictive imaging assays for cardiomyocyte manufacturing. We were also proud to be named in The Sunday Times Scotland Fast 50, recognising the growth of our business and the hard work of our team. Scotland has a thriving innovation ecosystem, and we are proud to contribute to its success.

Looking ahead

We enter the second half of the year with strong momentum, launching our U.S. distribution hub in July. This important milestone will enhance service levels, shorten delivery timelines, and improve accessibility for our North American customers, supporting future growth in the region.

The business continues to perform well despite ongoing market challenges, and we remain confident in our trajectory, driven by the strength of our science and the stability of the team we have built over many years.

I would like to thank our customers, partners, and employees for their trust, collaboration, and support. Together, we are helping advance a more physiologically relevant future for life sciences research.