An Edinburgh company developing a pop-up cardboard inhaler has secured £2.2 million as it prepares to take its first product into clinical trials.
1nhaler said the follow-on funding would support late-stage development of its novel single-dose inhaler and take the company closer to its first regulatory approval.
The round was led by Edinburgh investment syndicate Archangels, with support from Scottish Enterprise and BBB Investments and provides another positive signal for Scotland’s life sciences sector following some notable fundraising successes this year.
In August, Glasgow-based biotechnology company Mironid raised £34m in a Series B round to advance the clinical development of treatments for a rare kidney disease. The fundraising included £8.4m from the Scottish National Investment Bank, alongside investors including Roche Venture Fund, Epidarex Capital and Sofinnova Partners.
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Other notable deals in the Scottish industry in recent months include a £2.5m fundraising by MiAlgae, while Glasgow life sciences company EnteroBiotix secured £19m earlier in the year to support a major clinical trial of its microbiome treatment for irritable bowel syndrome.
The wider UK funding picture has also improved. The BioIndustry Association reported that UK biotech equity financing reached a five-year high of £2.11 billion in the second quarter of 2026, including a record £2.05bn in venture capital.
Even excluding a £1.6bn funding round by London-based Isomorphic Labs, UK biotech companies raised £498m in venture capital, up from £279m during the equivalent quarter last year.
Founded by Don Smith and Lisa McMyn, 1nhaler is developing a portable dry-powder inhaler made predominantly from cardboard. Roughly the size and shape of a credit card when flat, the device expands into a three-dimensional inhaler when required.
The company’s lead product, 1nhaler Salbutamol, combines the device with a long-established medicine used for the relief of asthma symptoms.
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1nhaler plans to use the fresh funding to complete the transfer of the product into contract manufacturing, produce material for clinical trials and progress a small clinical study. It is targeting a regulatory filing in late 2027.
The investment will also support an engineering study with German pharmaceutical manufacturing specialist Harro Höfliger, aimed at establishing how the device could be manufactured at commercial scale.
1nhaler believes the technology could eventually be used for medicines beyond respiratory treatments, including pain relief and vaccines.
“This investment takes us to one of the most important milestones in our journey – taking our own lead product into the clinic," Ms McMyn said. "The continued backing of Archangels, Scottish Enterprise and BBB Investments reflects the technical and commercial progress we have made over the past year.”
Sarah Hardy, director and head of new investments at Archangels, said the group had backed the business since 2023 and highlighted interest from potential commercial partners.
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“We are particularly excited by the commercial traction and interest from potential partners across a broader range of drugs than we initially anticipated, highlighting the platform’s versatility and market potential,” she said.
The investment comes as policymakers seek to accelerate the growth of Scotland’s life sciences industry. The Scottish Government has set an ambition for the sector to reach £25bn by 2035 and this year announced a £35m programme aimed at increasing the availability of laboratory and manufacturing space for growing life sciences businesses.
Derek Shaw, director of company funding and investment at Scottish Enterprise, said Scotland had “distinct global strengths” in human health, adding that supporting companies such as 1nhaler was important to sustaining the sector’s growth.
The 1nhaler team includes Helen Muirhead, its chief scientific officer and former head of GSK’s Respiratory Centre of Excellence, and chief medical officer Lars Larsson, formerly of AstraZeneca and Novartis.
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