iOrganBio has announced its launch from stealth with $2m in funding to transform how human cells are made.
The round was led by First Star Ventures along with institutional investors IndieBio, Cape Fear BioCapital, 2ndF, Terasaki Institute and Alix Ventures.
"The future of human health depends on our ability to intelligently design human cells and organoids with the same precision and reliability we expect from any other industrialised process," said Daniel Delubac, co-founder and CEO of iOrganBio.
iOrganBio’s proprietary CellForge platform combines AI-driven prediction with high-throughput experimental control to engineer cells and organoids across multiple high-value areas spanning drug discovery, manufacturing and cell therapies.
The first-of-its-kind platform utilises closed-loop control of 3D culture environments to dynamically optimise culture conditions during human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) differentiation.
By changing the way human cells are engineered and deployed across applications, iOrganBio enables predictable, reproducible and scalable outcomes across a wide range of cell types originating from stem cells and peripheral blood cells.
The unique approach could help biopharma partners accelerate disease modelling, regenerative medicine and drug development.
“With CellForge, we are seeking to create a new standard for cell manufacturing — one that is configurable, reproducible and scalable and adapted to living products,” added Delubac.
At the core of CellForge is the Functional Human CellAtlas, a comprehensive and growing repository of human cell data derived from single-cell RNA sequencing and other high-resolution profiling methods.
This foundation allows CellForge to guide cell development with unparalleled precision.
Partners can target specific cell states and use them to guide the design and manufacturing of tissues and organoids at both the population and single-cell level.
The result is precision and reliability for any process or application that relies on human cells, from model development to therapeutic production.
CellForge can be applied in a myriad of contexts to generate advanced tissue models and innovative cell therapies.
To date, the platform has already been successfully utilised to pinpoint specific beta islet cells to guide organoid and tissue design, enabling pancreas models with tailored properties, such as optional vasculature and immune competency for disease modelling, drug testing and regenerative applications.
"The level of engineering precision by iOrganBio’s technology uniquely positions the company to become an indispensable partner,” said Drew Volpe, Founding Partner of First Star Ventures.
“Their digital-first approach, grounded in AI and data, will dramatically reduce costs and accelerate the path from idea to therapy.”