CAMBRIDGE, England — bit.bio said it is rolling out a new pricing model and expanding its global distribution network to make high-quality human cells more accessible to researchers worldwide, following a record fourth quarter in sales and the close of $50 million in new funding.
The company said it is leveraging economies of scale to significantly reduce the per-vial price across its ioCells portfolio. Most products in its central nervous system lineup are now available in three-vial packs priced at 999 in dollars, pounds, or euros, with select products offered in two-vial packs at the same price.
bit.bio said the pricing overhaul is designed to broaden adoption of human cell models across academia, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical research, supporting the growing use of new approach methodologies that emphasize human-predictive systems over animal models. Lower per-vial costs and volume discounts are expected to allow scientists to run more replicates, explore additional experimental conditions, and scale up studies without exceeding grant or R&D budget limits.
The company said the move aligns with increasing pressure from regulators, funders, and industry to reduce and eventually replace animal use in research. By lowering barriers to access, bit.bio aims to make standardized, reproducible human cells a practical option for a wider range of laboratories, rather than limiting them to specialized research centers.
“Our mission has always been to provide every scientist with access to consistent, high-quality human cells,” said Przemek Obloj, CEO at bit.bio. “The momentum we’ve seen, marked by our strongest sales quarter to date and the continued confidence of our investors, allows us to shift our business model. This is not just a price change; it is an investment in global research that helps turn a widely shared ambition into practical reality: improving the quality of preclinical research and increasing the likelihood that drugs succeed in the clinic.”
Alongside the pricing changes, bit.bio said it has opened a European distribution hub in partnership with SciSafe, a cGMP-compliant biopharma storage and logistics provider. The new facility builds on the company’s existing U.S. distribution operations and is intended to reduce lead times, logistics costs, and administrative complexity for EU-based customers.
According to the company, the European hub enables next-working-day delivery across the EU and removes the need for customers to manage customs processes. By holding inventory closer to researchers, bit.bio said it can better support time-sensitive projects while strengthening its presence in the European drug discovery and life sciences ecosystem. The company added that it plans to further expand its supply infrastructure to support customers in the Asia-Pacific region.
