Stockholm's BioLamina Secures €20M EIB Loan to Scale Protein Matrices for Cell Therapies
April 17, 2026 - 7:34 am
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending €20 million to BioLamina, the Swedish biotech that supplies laminin-based cell culture matrices used by stem cell therapy developers worldwide. The funding will support expanded production of laminin technologies and animal-free drug safety testing methods.
BioLamina, based in Stockholm, produces the protein scaffolding used to grow stem cells for therapeutic applications. The company has secured a €20 million loan from the EIB to:
- Expand development of laminin technologies enabling next-generation cell therapies.
- Advance more advanced, animal-free methods for drug safety testing.
BioLamina sits at an enabling layer of the cell therapy ecosystem, providing the extracellular matrix proteins that allow researchers and companies to grow, expand, and differentiate stem cells reliably outside the body.
Its core product line, Biolaminin®, consists of full-length human recombinant laminin proteins, which offer more biologically faithful conditions for growing cells compared to most commercial alternatives. Laminins are key structural components of the basement membrane that trigger specific cell responses.
Therapeutic applications for cells grown on laminin matrices are diverse, including:
- Treating type 1 diabetes by generating insulin-producing beta cells
- Treating Parkinson’s disease, heart failure, acute liver failure, and cancer
BioLamina has collaborations with Novo Nordisk on stem cell therapies for diabetes and Cell X Technologies for iPSC-based manufacturing workflows. Founded in 2008, the company is headquartered in Sundbyberg, Greater Stockholm, and employs approximately 100-117 people (according to different sources).
Its principal shareholders include Swedish investment company Bure Equity AB, Lauxera Capital Partners, the Tryggvason family, and Northislet. The company raised €19 million in equity financing in July 2024 led by Lauxera Capital Partners.
The €20 million EIB loan is BioLamina’s first disclosed debt financing and aligns with the EIB's BioTechEU mandate to mobilize €10 billion in biotech investment across 2026-27.