M&G’S CATALYST Strategy Invests $57 Million in SkyCell

In a significant development, SkyCell has secured a $57 million funding round in partnership with Catalyst, M&G Investments’ $6 billion purpose-led private assets strategy. This strategic investment is poised to accelerate SkyCell’s global expansion and bolster its mission to establish safer, more sustainable, and highly efficient pharmaceutical supply chains.

Revolutionizing the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain

With an impressive compound growth rate exceeding 55% over the past three years, SkyCell remains dedicated to ensuring secure access to medicines for patients across the globe. This new investment will expand SkyCell’s global and serve more customers with network of service centres.

Eliminating Temperature Excursions

Safe access to medicine is a global challenge, and US$35 billion worth of products are lost every year because of temperature excursions in the supply chain. IATA finds that 50% of temperature excursions happen at airports due to loading risks or non-performance during extreme ambient temperatures. SkyCell invented the Hybrid container concept to avoid loading at airports through its door-to-door container solutions and protect from ambient temperatures as low as -30°C and as high as +70°C.

This proprietary and high precision design, manufactured in Switzerland, means SkyCell containers have a Big Four independently audited failure rate of less than 0.1 per cent versus an accepted industry rate between 2 and 12 per cent. SkyCell ensures high value medicines are viable when they reach patients whilst significantly reducing waste for pharma companies.

SkyCell’s innovative lightweight design and greater payload efficiency reduces CO₂ emissions by up to 50%. The pharmaceutical industry has a significant carbon footprint challenge, making up 4.4% of global emissions, and executives are focused on reducing the impact of their supply chains. SkyCell helps companies address their CO₂ footprint at pace and is well positioned to become the sustainability partner of choice for the global pharma supply chain.

Cutting-edge Software

Additionally, SkyCell’s proprietary software platform enables clients to predict CO₂ impact and strategically plan sustainable routes for pharmaceutical shipments. It offers real-time, end-to-end oversight of every shipment globally, and as a result reduces release times and facilitates the expedited delivery of life-saving drugs to consumers.

A Bright Future

SkyCell co-founder and CEO, Richard Ettl, expressed his elation regarding this partnership, underlining the critical role of secure and dependable cold chain supply in the pharmaceutical industry. As the world progresses toward net-zero targets, SkyCell’s initiatives to reduce CO₂ emissions and minimize waste will be instrumental in aligning with regulatory requirements and industry benchmarks.

Praveg Patil, Deputy Head of EMEA Investments at M&G’s Catalyst team, said: “We are delighted to join SkyCell on its mission to deliver life-saving drugs globally in a safe and reliable manner. We believe the innovative design of the SkyCell solution will play a key role in decarbonising the pharmaceutical supply chain and ensure zero waste. From an impact perspective, this investment covers two key thematic areas for Catalyst – climate solutions and healthcare and provides our investors with exposure to the attractive growth potential of high-end biological pharmaceutical products.”

As SkyCell continues its global expansion, it stands poised to be a pivotal player in the journey toward a greener, more efficient pharmaceutical industry.