Biopôle Funding for Limula and ND Biosciences

Limula is building a smart automation solution for the production of the most complex, most expensive, but also most personalized cancer treatment ever invented. The company led by Luc Henry brings industry 4.0 to the world of cell and gene therapies, a market with a huge potential. Limula aims to replace the current manual approach to gene-edited cell therapy manufacturing with a single automated device that will cover the whole process end-to-end, with the potential to lower the costs of production by 30%.

Contacted by Startupticker.ch, CEO and Founder Luc Henry says the Biopôle Startup Fund support will be critical at this stage of Limula’s development. The biotech has now successfully completed a proof-of-concept study in collaboration with a number of research institutions in Switzerland. He further adds: “The necessary transition to our own facilities in July means that we had to start renting laboratory infrastructure, invest in equipment, and hire new key roles. The generous award helps us do all three properly, and build the future of Limula on a solid base.”

The next critical step is to turn the working prototype into a first MVP. The team is currently running pilots with a number of potential customers, and so far, the traction has been really strong, with a lot of enthusiasm for the solution. But these clients work in a highly regulated environment (called GMP, for good manufacturing practices) and the team needs to meet their quality requirements before it can generate revenues. Moving from its current development status to a device suitable for the production of clinical-grade cell products fit for use in patients will require resources. This is why Limula is raising a Seed round of investment.

The Jury at Biopôle liked the disruptive dimension of the innovation brought by Limula in cell and gene therapy (CGT), potentially permitting to shift from a centralized, labor intensive manufacturing to a distributed automated production process. As a consequence, CGT would be more accessible and affordable for the patients. In addition, the Jury appreciated the entrepreneurial mindset of the co-founders. "We are looking forward to see the next developments at Limula here at Biopôle" says Pierre-Jean Wipff, Director of Innovation at Biopôle

Next-gen therapeutics & diagnostics for neurodegenerative diseases

A spinoff of the Lashuel Lab at the EPFL, ND Biosciences was founded to develop next-generation therapeutics and diagnostics for neurodegenerative diseases (NDs), such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s Disease. The startup created in 2019 can rely on unique technologies that allow for the first time reproducing the biochemical, structural, and functional properties of pathological protein aggregates that are linked to the pathogenesis of NDs. What sets apart ND Biosciences from other companies in the field is that its unique capabilities allow it to develop novel therapies that account for the complexity and heterogeneity of the pathology observed in NDs. This, combined with new approaches to prevent aggregation in the first place enables the team to develop therapies that can treat both early and late stages of NDs.  

The team led by Bilal Fares is very thankful for the support provided by the Biopôle as it will allow ND Biosciences to expand its lab space at Startlab for its growing team, and it will contribute to the purchase of key equipment that would enable the automation of some of our R&D processes. The fund will also support ND Biosciences’ business development efforts by providing access to expert consultants who will help refine our overall business plan, and shape the patenting roadmap of our new exciting products.

ND Biosciences is currently focused on further developing its products, namely benchmarking our therapeutic leads and conducting key proof-of-concept experiments to validate the efficacy and superiority of our lead biologics. It is also developing the first prototype of its diagnostic assay and validating its ability to accurately detect the complexity and diversity of pathological proteoforms. Such assays are desperately needed to enable early diagnosis, monitor disease progression and assess the efficacy of new therapies. The company foresees to initiate our Series-A fundraising round in Q1 2023.

The Biopôle Jury was impressed by the solid scientific background behind the platform to tackle neurodegenerative diseases. In addition, the Jury was sensitive to the numerous applications that could stem out of the company. Those could range from developing new therapies for both early and later stages of ND diseases, as well as proposing diagnostic tools and imaging agents that capture the diversity and complexity of protein pathology in patient’s brains. "We are delighted to support this project with the Biopôle Start-up Fund." says Pierre-Jean Wipff, Director of Innovation.

Nine startups supported already

Including Limula and ND Biosciences, Biopôle Start-up Fund supports today 9 impact-driven life sciences startups. Companies interested in applying for the Biopôle Start-up Fund can find all the information they need here. Next application deadline is December 15^th.

(ES)