Astraveus exits stealth mode with $18m to advance CGT platform

Astraveus has launched and will use the $18 million in funding to advance development of its microfluidic CGT manufacturing platform.

According to the Paris-based firm Astraveus, its Lakhesys cell and gene therapy (CGT) manufacturing platform is “revolutionizing” the space. The platform uses deep process optimization as well as single-use, microfluidic bioprocessors to produce improved results with decreased inputs.

The microfluidic bioprocessors mimic organ perfusion and significantly speed up the molecular interactions required to uphold and transform cells into potent therapeutic agents.

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“Each microfluidic bioprocessor is capable of manufacturing a gene modified cell therapy from end-to-end, as well as key analytical functions,” Jérémie Laurent, CEO of Astraveus, told BioProcess Insider.

“Our microfluidic system mimics human body functions that have evolved to be crucial for sustaining life, e.g., lung/brain perfusion, and are the key to high performance. When you scale down the system you accelerate the molecular exchanges upon which cells function. For example, every time you reduce the size by 10x you increase molecular exchange and mass transfer by 100x. This means faster and more efficient manufacturing, all in single use processing to avoid cross-contamination.”

Moreover, this eliminates the requirement for large-scale infrastructure and can reduce costs, time, labor, floor space, and energy requirements. The firm said these tackle some of the challenges associated with CGT production. The financing will enable Astraveus to extensively advance the development of its technology and grow its team.

The firm has 28 members of staff, which it expects to double “in the year to come.” Laurent said the reason the funding is being put towards the team and technology is because “we are talking about advanced technologies that cover multiple aspects of bioprocessing and this will take significant resources to develop to a high level of robustness and validation.”

The Series Seed financing was led by Bpifrance Large Venture, AdBio partners, M Ventures, and Johnson & Johnson Innovation.

Astraveus also received funding from the European Union’s (EU’s) Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, as well as from the French Minister of Education and Innovation and Bpifrance as part of i-Lab prize and the “Investissements d’avenir” program.