Glasgow-based medical technology company Nebu~Flow has been awarded a £2m Scottish Enterprise grant to accelerate development and patient access to its patented nebuliser technology in the UK and globally, in the latest phase of a multi-year support relationship with the agency.
Nebu~Flow’s platform is designed to improve how people receive inhaled medicines, paving the way for what the company describes as the “medicines of tomorrow” and helping to reduce pressure on healthcare systems.
The new Scottish Enterprise funding will support product development, preparations for regulatory approval and partnerships with pharmaceutical and biotech companies as Nebu~Flow works towards bringing its device to market.
The grant follows a £4.7m investment round in 2024 that was backed by Scottish Enterprise alongside private investors, building on earlier feasibility grants and inclusion in the agency’s Unlocking Ambition entrepreneurship programme.
Scottish Enterprise frames Nebu~Flow as an example of how sustained public support can help a university spin-out scale, attract private capital and position itself for international growth.
Andrea Cusack, chief executive of Nebu~Flow, said the latest award is “a huge moment” for the team, allowing them to turn years of Scottish research and engineering into a real product that could make “a genuine difference to patients’ lives”.
“Our goal is simple: to help people get better, more effective medicines in a way that’s easier, safer and more comfortable for them,” she said.
Scottish Enterprise’s director of scaling innovation, Nicola Anderson, said the agency has nurtured Nebu~Flow’s ambition to revolutionise respiratory drug delivery over a number of years, from Unlocking Ambition through to feasibility grants, investment and now this R&D grant.
She said companies like Nebu~Flow “play a vital role in transforming our economy by scaling up, creating high-value jobs and competing internationally”, and highlighted the firm’s journey from university spin-out to a business now poised to bring its technology to market.
The funding will allow Nebu~Flow to move from a working prototype to a fully engineered product, including finalising the design, carrying out performance testing and preparing the approvals needed to launch in the UK, Europe and the United States.
For patients, the company and agency say this could translate into better access to advanced medicines and more treatment and monitoring at home, with potential improvements in quality of life and long-term health outcomes.
Founded in Glasgow and spun out of the University of Glasgow, Nebu~Flow brings together engineers, scientists and clinicians with deep expertise in respiratory medicine and drug delivery.
The company plans to continue growing its team in Scotland as development progresses, while seeking partnerships with global pharmaceutical companies to bring its home-grown innovation to patients around the world.
Respiratory conditions such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cystic fibrosis are cited in the release as placing a significant and growing burden on healthcare systems worldwide, costing NHS Scotland alone around £500m a year to manage.
Against that backdrop, Scottish Enterprise is positioning Nebu~Flow as part of a wider push to back health-tech firms that can both ease pressure on services and create high-value jobs in Scotland’s life sciences and engineering base.
