We developed a disruptive space proven technology to produce high quality human tissue organoids in Low Earth Orbit with the vision of improving and saving lives.
We are also developing custom, cutting edge hardware for commercial-scale production of our organoids.
Organoids are 3D in vitro culture systems derived from self-organizing stem cells, recapitulating the in vivo architecture, functionality, and genetic signature of original tissues. Human tissue organoids have great potential in pharmaceutical research and testing, precision medicine and transplantation-based therapies. However, Earth -produced organoids require complex and sophisticated production processes with additives or supportive structures, making standardization and constant quality difficult to achieve. We have solved these Earth-based problems by producing in space: We developed a fully scalable biotechnological process to produce such human organoids from autologous mesenchymal stems in microgravity, where 3D growth and differentiation into complex tissues is achieved in the force-free environment.
As part of our production process, we are also developing the first commercial-scale custom hardware for organoid production in microgravity.
We want to help millions by harnessing the space environment and space technologies to develop better therapies
Our team is among the world’s most foremost experts in gravitational biology, and has already successfully flown two missions to the International Space Station to grow human tissue organoids, but we are just getting started on our journey to provide health from space for Earth, and to take biotech to new heights.
OUR VALUES
Patients are our ultimate stakeholders.
We are team-players – within our own team, but also with customers, suppliers, other business partners, regulators, and all others who help us serve our ultimate stakeholder, the patient.
We are proudly based in heritage – we are scientists rooted in the world-class academic ecosystem of the University of Zurich and within the larger tradition Swiss pharma & biotech.
We look to the future – we harness space technology to “take biotech to new heights” and we will integrate innovation that helps us in our mission, including e.g. artificial intelligence or quantum computing. We are always learning, and always ready to think from first principles.
We are a sustainable company – our core products will improve human health (U.N. Sustainable Development Goal #3) and reduce animal testing (SDGs #14&15). Everything we do is guided by our aim to have positive impact.
The “3D Organoids from Space” project started in 2018, when the University of Zurich and Airbus team participated in an innovation competition and successfully prevailed against roughly 500 other ideas. The R&D phase 2019 -2021 included extensive ground-based experiments and two production tests on the International Space Station (ISS) on board SpX-20 and SpX-23. We successfully produced cartilage, bone, liver and neuronal tissue, validated by specific functional tissue markers and with 100% yield, which could be further cultivated longer than 30 days post-flight without loss of quality. Thus, for the first time, we have established a full production process for human tissue in microgravity.
