Riga-based Cellbox Labs secured €3.3 million in non-dilutive funding. This capital, partly from the Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) “Tech4Cure”, supports its organ-on-chip technology development.
Founded in 2020, Cellbox Labs develops miniature human organ replicas. These micro-engineered systems model organs like the gut, kidney, and lung. The platform supports drug discovery, aiming to reduce reliance on animal testing.
Advancing Drug Discovery and Personalized Medicine
The €3.3 million investment targets four key initiatives. Cellbox Labs will scale an automated gut-on-chip model with Altis Biosystems. This includes moving towards personalized models using iPSCs and patient-derived microbiota. Furthermore, the company integrates oxygen and pH sensors directly into assays for live data.
The team will also benchmark biosimilar performance on pancreatic islet systems. This compares results with static cultures and animal models. Collaborating with ESQlabs and MPSlabs, Cellbox Labs develops high-fidelity digital twin models. This strengthens the predictive power of organ-on-chip platforms, competing with solutions from Emulate and TissUse.
This strategic roadmap aligns with regulatory shifts. The FDA plans to phase out animal testing requirements for certain drugs. Similarly, the NIH mandates including computer modeling and biotech innovation in funded research. Cellbox Labs aims to accelerate predictive, data-rich, and personalized drug testing platforms, enhancing drug discovery.