InSphero Receives Additional USD 10m for Organ-on-a-Chip Disease Models
Schlieren, Switzerland – June 13, 2018 InSphero AG today announced that it has raised USD
10 million in its latest funding round with additional financing, secured from internal and external
investors, bringing its total funding to date to USD 35 million. An innovative provider of 3D cellbased
platforms for drug discovery and efficacy testing, InSphero will apply the funds to further
enhance its discovery platforms for metabolic diseases and cancer.
InSphero’s comprehensive solutions for preclinical drug safety and efficacy testing are based on
3D microtissues, which are phenotypic models of the smallest functional unit of a tissue or organ.
These drug-discovery and testing platforms combine scalable 3D technology, ISO qualitycontrolled
3D human tissue models, 3D-optimized media, as well as tailored assay services and
support. Drug-discovery partners immediately gain access to the depth and breadth of InSphero’s
experience in developing and applying 3D models for liver toxicology, metabolic diseases (e.g, T1
and T2 diabetes, and liver diseases NAFLD and NASH), and oncology.
A new milestone for the market leader is the successful linking of different 3D microtissues
through a unique microfluidic organ-on-a-chip technology that enables researchers to better
understand how drugs affect the human body as a whole. The technology is used in ongoing
research collaborations with academic and industry partners, such as Roche Pharmaceuticals in
Basel, Switzerland, and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH). The technology, baptized
Akura™ Flow, promises to transform drug discovery and development, with the potential to
make animal testing in pharma and cosmetic companies obsolete.