Dynamism and creativity are driving the creation of start-ups – or the birth of subsidiaries of multinationals – whose applications are helping to reduce or replace the use of animals in research or toxicology studies.
BioValley France is dedicated to supporting and accelerating the emergence of innovative technologies and is a leader in shaping the French organ-on-a-chip industry. Its clients include major pharmaceutical and cosmetics companies. A significant number of biotech companies have joined the think tank, alongside numerous public research teams. The list of network members is available.
Its current or planned uses are diverse:
- toxicology studies using human cell models;
- molecule efficacy studies in both preclinical and clinical research, enabling shorter lead times. In particular, it is possible to carry out dose-response studies by limiting the use of animal models that are not very predictive;
- modeling diseases, particularly of genetic origin, by combining organs-on-a-chip and gene editing. Similarly, once validated, organ-on-a-chip methodology can lead to the creation of personalized organs, right at the patient’s bedside.
A white paper by the French Organoids and Organs-on-a-Chip Industry Cluster (F3OCI) was recently published under the auspices of the Strategic Committee for Health Industries and Technologies (CSF-ITS) and offers concrete suggestions for developing alternative methods
Netri was founded in 2018 in Lyon and markets high-throughput organ-on-a-chip devices, automated screening services using diverse and differentiated stem cells in these devices, and licenses for the use of the company’s digital tools. Among other innovations, Netri uses neurons as digital sensors.
NETRI is convinced that the future of drug testing will focus on the rapid and reproducible generation of large volumes of biological data (for use in artificial intelligence), generated through the enhanced translational capabilities offered by organs-on-chips (OoCs), thereby helping to reduce animal testing. In this context, NETRI serves the dermo-cosmetics, pharmaceutical, and nutritional health markets to address their specific challenges: introduction to our tools.
Netri Opens France’s First Organ-on-a-Chip Factory in Lyon-Gerland – Tout Lyon
The Toulouse-based startup Synaxys, founded in 2018, offers the first model of the human nervous system,“5D-brain,”which helps reduce animal testing and accelerate the discovery of future therapies for neurological diseases. With five accessible dimensions—3D space, time, and disease models—these test-tube mini-brain models enhance preclinical research and development studies. These unique cultures replicate the developmental stages of the human brain. They are grown on chips composed of 60 electrodes, enabling the recording of the electrical activity of these human neural networks throughout their lifespan. By enabling the continuous collection of functional data, “5D-Brain” provides the physiological information that was previously lacking for those involved in therapeutic research.
Robust, reproducible and quick to set up, “5D-brain” can reproduce in vitro specific neuro-pathological disorders, such as epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, autism or Alzheimer’s disease. In just a few weeks, it can predict the response of the human nervous system to new treatments, before clinical trials in humans begin.
Synaxys is a member of the French “organs-on-a-chip” sector, organized by BioValley France (see below).
Poietis is a biotechnology company specializing in the development and fabrication of human tissues through bioprinting. Its primary mission is to develop new therapeutic solutions based on its expertise in bioprinting technologies, particularly high-resolution laser bioprinting. Poietis has developed the NGB (“Next Generation Bioprinting”) multimodal bioprinting platform, which comes in two versions: one for in vitro tissue engineering research (NGB-R) and a clinical version (NGB-C) for the production of implantable bioprinted tissues.
This automated, multimodal biomanufacturing platform enables researchers to achieve superior results in tissue engineering thanks to its high resolution, and allows for the fabrication of complex tissues while ensuring repeatability and reproducibility.
Poietis’ bioprinting technology is the result of innovative research conducted over the past ten years at Inserm and the University of Bordeaux. Since its founding in 2014, the company—which employs 35 people—has developed physiological models, notably in partnership with the world’s leading pharmaceutical and cosmetics companies. Poietis has also developed Poieskin®, the first bio-printed human skin available on the market, intended for research purposes, particularly for the validation of cosmetic ingredients.
Poietis’ technology is one of the most promising alternatives to animal testing. Scientifically, the goal is to create biologically relevant tissue models at affordable costs, in order to address both ethical concerns and the lack of predictive power in animal experimental models. Finally, this cutting-edge technology can be leveraged to solve the industrial challenges facing tissue engineering, including the need for automation, standardization, and the increasing complexity of models. Bioprinting raises significant societal issues, with the goal of becoming increasingly predictive of what actually happens within the human body, at the earliest possible stages, in order to focus on the most promising molecules in terms of potential clinical efficacy, with as few side effects as possible, while contributing to a transition toward non-animal research.
Elvesys/Elveflow, a company founded in 2011 and based in Paris, has as its primary objective to participate in the most promising research projects related to microfluidics. This includes, in particular, lab-on-a-chip and organ-on-a-chip technologies. Microfluidics applications can contribute to the development of new drugs, notably by enabling the screening of a large number of combinations of new therapeutic molecules or by facilitating the control of stem cell differentiation and growth. As for the possibilities opened up by multi-organ-on-a-chip systems, Elvesys emphasizes that the interconnected culture of redifferentiated induced pluripotent stem cells could make it possible to study the causes of aging, test numerous drugs in the preclinical phase (thereby contributing to a significant reduction in the number of animals used in these tests), and pave the way for personalized medicine by culturing stem cells specific to each patient.
This startup is dedicated to recreating human physiology for drug testing and precision medicine. In particular, it has developed a full range of products—based on next-generation 3D cell culture technologies—that enable the long-term culture of human tissues and biopsies, 3D cell models, and organ-on-a-chip models. Examples of applications
Epithelix is a biotechnology company founded in 2006 that provides in vitro alternatives to animal testing for evaluating the effects of drugs in development and assessing the toxicity of chemical compounds on the human respiratory tract. Based in Geneva, it also has a subsidiary in France.
It has developed a unique technology enabling reconstituted tissues to be maintained in a homeostatic state for a long period of time; in other words, the tissues morphologically and functionally resemble the native tissue. The company first focused on the respiratory system and commercialized MucilAir ™, the only model of human respiratory epithelium capable of remaining fully differentiated and functional for over a year. This model is marketed and available in the USA, Europe and Asia.
It has carried out tests for research centers on “drug candidates” for the treatment of Covid-19.
This Swiss startup, based at the EPFL Innovation Park, is developing cutting-edge technology for the standardized cultivation of organoids derived from stem cells—miniature, self-organized 3D tissues that mimic organ functions. The technology paves the way for personalized medicine.
As part of this effort, SUN bioscience has launched a clinical pilot project to determine the efficacy of available drugs on intestinal organoids derived from patients with cystic fibrosis.
For the past 30 years, L’Oréal has been developing alternative tests to animal testing at its center in Lyon-Gerland. Two Episkin subsidiaries have been operating in China since 2014 and in Brazil since 2018. Some projects extend beyond the scope of cosmetics:
Fluigent, an international company with French roots, develops, manufactures, and supports the most advanced microfluidic systems available today.
Toxicological and medical applications include :
- Development of complex mechanical stimulation models on a 3D cell culture within a microfluidic platform—a device known as an “organ-on-a-chip”—with a particular focus on cartilage formation .
- Culturing prostate organoids on microspheres: click here
The Paris-based company develops and markets systems dedicated to controlling the cellular microenvironment. Applications include cancer research, immunology, organ physiology and rare diseases.
This Paris-based bioengineering company (with a branch in Virginia, USA) has developed a platform enabling biologists to work with controlled, reproducible microenvironments (in vitro), to study living cells more effectively and to model pathologies.
A biotechnology startup that emerged from ESPCI Paris, the company produces micro-tissues of the liver and pancreas (organoids) for pharmaceutical and therapeutic applications, as well as for basic research. These new complex in vitro models are created using “BioPearl” technology.
This start-up, created on March 16, 2020, is developing an ex vivo clinical approach developed as part of academic research carried out by INRAE. It aims to assess the effects of food and nutrients on human health.
The first step involves collecting blood samples from volunteers who have ingested the food product being tested. This blood sample, which contains metabolites resulting from the digestion of the product (molecules of interest that carry the active ingredient), is then applied to cultured cells using a method protected by INRAE. The investigation is therefore conducted outside the body, hence the term “ex vivo.” This approach allows for a rapid and physiologically relevant demonstration of the product’s expected health benefits within a few weeks, eliminating the need for animal testing.
The data obtained also reveal the mechanisms of action involved at the molecular level. In the end, all this innovative and alternative research tool requires is a blood sample, cells and know-how.
The relevance of results is based on the use of human materials (blood, metabolites, cells) at a cost that is often lower than that of animal experimentation.
The users of this innovative ex vivo clinical approach are manufacturers in the agri-food, nutraceutical, food supplement and nutri-cosmetics industries who are looking for greater scientific credibility for their product (a key market factor) without the need for an animal model.
Research teams
Pierre-Gilles de Gennes Institute
The IPGG brings together 20 research teams working on microfluidics and its applications. More than 60 scientific projects funded by the IPGG Labex are currently underway.
French Institute of Bioinformatics
To support projects carried out by organizations working in the field of bioinformatics.
