Lena Biosciences develops 3D cell culture technologies, including the Perfused Organ Panel and SeedEZ scaffold, to create physiologically relevant in vitro models for drug testing and toxicity assessments. Their products address the limitations of traditional 2D cultures by providing more accurate simulations of human tissue responses, enhancing the reliability of preclinical research outcomes.
Funding
$252.1K raised to dateRaised to date based on public sources. This may differ from the amount the company actually raised and is based only on what is publicly available on the internet.
Founders
Product
Problem
Traditional 2D cell cultures lack the physiological relevance of in vivo conditions, leading to inaccurate drug testing and toxicity assessments. The absence of 3D cellular organization, perfusion, and realistic oxygen delivery limits the predictive power of preclinical studies.
Solution
Lena Biosciences provides innovative 3D cell culture tools and services that create physiologically relevant in vitro models for drug discovery and development. Their products, including the Perfused Organ Panel, SeedEZ scaffold, and GradientEZ assay, address the limitations of traditional 2D cultures by recreating the architecture and microenvironment that cells experience in vivo. The Perfused Organ Panel combines 3D cell cultures with perfusion using synthetic hemoglobin, while the SeedEZ scaffold provides a convenient framework for 3D cell cultures and co-culture models. GradientEZ enables the study of 3D cell migration and invasion with multiple stimuli applied in parallel, mimicking in vivo conditions. Lena Biosciences' technology-enabled services offer actionable insights for early drug de-risking, including hepatotoxicity and mitochondrial toxicity assessments.
Target Audience
The primary customers are pharmaceutical companies, biotech firms, and research institutions involved in drug discovery, preclinical research, and toxicology studies.
Features
- Perfused Organ Panel: A microphysiological system (MPS) that combines 3D cell cultures with perfusion using synthetic hemoglobin for enhanced oxygen delivery.
- SeedEZ: A 3D cell culture scaffold optimized for long-term cell growth and time-course biochemical assaying, supporting complex culture- and co-culture models.
- GradientEZ: A 3D cell invasion assay system that enables cells to migrate in three dimensions, allowing for the testing of multiple modulators of cell motility or invasion in one well.
- Hepatotoxicity and Mitochondrial Toxicity Services: Proprietary assays to detect intrinsic and idiosyncratic toxicity in engineered liver models and assess the effect of parent compounds and their metabolites on mitochondrial function.
- Custom 3D Cell-Based Assays: Services that can be run with primary cells, cell lines, and iPSC-derived cells, with organ models including liver, brain, and tumors.
- Blood Substitute: Synthetic hemoglobin to provide oxygen delivery to 3D organ-like cultures.