• Limula

  Participated · Seed · May 2024

  Limula builds a platform to automate and digitize ex vivo manipulation of cells to reduce the high costs and manual steps in cell and gene therapy manufacturing. The company aims to make therapies such as CAR T-cells more affordable by replacing highly skilled labour and sterile infrastructure–intensive processes. After an initial proof of concept, Limula is onboarding selected cell therapy developers to run pilots and has launched a program giving industry and academic partners early access ahead of commercial launch. The technology is intended to support transitions from pre-clinical evaluation to clinical trials and later commercial-scale manufacturing of clinical-grade cell products. Limula has signed partnerships with several research centres, including the San Raffaele Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy in Milan, to broaden application scope. The company will use the new funding to advance its software development and further roll out pilots. Limula develops an automated tool for scalable cell therapy manufacturing that integrates a bioreactor and centrifuge in a single device to enable "one-patient – one batch" personalized treatments with minimal human intervention. The technology aims to reduce the high cost of current cell therapies and help broaden access to these treatments. Limula was the grand prize winner of the BioTools Innovator 2023 Final and received a $250,000 non-dilutive award. The company participated in the BioTools Innovator accelerator, receiving individualized mentorship and industry feedback. Limula’s CEO said the program helped bridge the knowledge gap between Switzerland and the U.S. and aided in building the company’s value proposition and business strategy. Limula has developed a technology platform that automates cell therapy manufacturing in a single, compact instrument, encapsulating all process steps to reduce devices and manual interventions. The platform is intended to enable decentralised production directly in hospitals to lower costs and broaden patient access to autologous cell therapies. A multidisciplinary team of seven engineers and biologists built the system and plans to move from prototyping to industrialisation of its innovative bioreactor. Limula will establish and equip a laboratory at the StartLab incubator located in the Biopôle in Lausanne and grow its team. The startup received a Tech Seed loan from the Foundation for Technological Innovation (FIT) to finalise its demonstrator and begin a pilot phase with partners. Founded at the end of 2020, Limula aims to address current capacity limits and high production costs that restrict access to cell therapies.

No current team members are available.