Orgonex

Organoids are miniature organs made from stem cells that are widely used in research and development and have high potential for clinical applications. However, organoid expansion is expensive and tedious with current culture methods and organoid functionality is limited. We have developed a spinning organoid bioreactor – the RPMotion – for fast, easy and efficient organoid culture to overcome current limitations in organoid expansion and differentiation. The bioreactor has an intuitive interface, is compatible with common laboratory infrastructure and will be provided to the customer with detailed user protocols for different organoid types.

The RPMotion creates a dynamic environment enabling up to 11-fold faster organoid expansion compared to current culture methods, which results in up to 60% cost reduction of culture ingredients, as well as about 75% reduction of labour. Moreover, organoid differentiation towards functional cells is improved by 4 – 18-fold, meaning that e.g. liver organoids acquire key liver functions important for drug metabolism.

Several pilot customers have the prototype (TRL4) of the bioreactor in use and further development towards TLR6 is ongoing. A patent application has been filed in August 2021. We will enter the market with this first generation of the bioreactor (GEN1) for academic users and concomitantly continue development of a second generation (GEN2) containing online sensor technology for commercial customers. Our team is based in Utrecht and has been working in the organoid field for 12 years. We are highly interconnected with other organoid researchers, which will enable a smooth market entry. We will set-up the business as a spin-off company and are in discussion with a distributor who operates in the organoid market. Strategic alliances will be established with partners developing compatible sensor technology and with partners developing advanced media formulations that can be used in our bioreactor for improved organoid culture. Over the projection period 2022 – 2028, we estimate total sales of 672 GEN1 and 580 GEN2 units, resulting in a total revenue of ~€29.5M. We are seeking €2M in funding for development of GEN2 and sales activities to drive our business forward until break-even is achieved in 2025.