Scottish drug delivery startup Nebu~Flow has been selected for the Innovate UK Scaleup Programme, marking another milestone for the company as it looks to commercialise its advanced aerosol drug delivery technology.
The announcement comes shortly after the company secured a £2 million grant from Scottish Enterprise, adding to growing support from both public sector bodies and investors.
The Innovate UK Scaleup Programme is designed to help high-growth, innovation-led businesses accelerate their development and prepare for international expansion. Companies selected for the programme receive strategic support from experienced Scaleup Directors and specialist advisers, helping them navigate challenges around regulation, intellectual property, operations and commercial growth.
For Nebu~Flow, the focus will be on strengthening its regulatory readiness and expanding its intellectual property strategy as it moves closer to market.
Founded in Glasgow, the company is developing a next-generation nebulisation platform designed to improve how complex medicines are delivered to patients. Traditional nebulisers can damage fragile therapies during the aerosolisation process, limiting the types of treatments that can be administered through inhalation. Nebu~Flow’s acoustic nebulisation technology aims to overcome this challenge, potentially allowing a wider range of medicines to be delivered directly to the lungs.
The technology could have implications for advanced therapies, including nucleic acid-based medicines and other large biological molecules that have historically been difficult to administer using conventional inhalation systems.
Andrea Cusack, CEO of Nebu~Flow, described the programme as an important step in the company’s growth journey.
“Becoming an Innovate UK Scaleup Programme company is a major accelerator for Nebu~Flow. The programme gives us access to exceptional expertise across regulation, IP, operations and commercial strategy, support that directly strengthens our path to market and enhances our value to partners and investors.”
The selection also reflects increasing interest in drug delivery innovation, an area that has become a growing focus for both pharmaceutical companies and investors. While significant attention is often given to the development of new therapies, the methods used to deliver those treatments can be equally important in determining effectiveness, patient outcomes and commercial viability.
Nebu~Flow has already raised more than £4.7 million in seed funding and has received industry recognition, including winning the CPHI Pharma Start-Up Initiative Award in 2024.
As the company works towards clinical readiness, it is also expanding partnerships across the pharmaceutical sector and exploring international opportunities. With support from Innovate UK and Scottish Enterprise now in place, Nebu~Flow appears well positioned to take its technology beyond the laboratory and into the next stage of commercial development.
For the wider UK life sciences sector, the announcement is another example of how public funding and scale-up support programmes are being used to help deeptech companies bridge the gap between innovation and commercialisation.
