Breakthrough Solution in end-to-end cell therapy manufacturing unveiled

LimONE was officially presented by Luc Henry, CEO of Limula at Advanced Therapies Week in Dallas, Texas, on January 22nd, during the Innovation Zone Tech Spotlight Session. The device unveiled is designed for both hospitals and biopharma companies alike, providing a versatile tool that supports the production of multiple types of cell therapy, including CAR-T and gene-edited hematopoietic stem cells. Using the exact same single use consumable at all stages of therapeutic development eliminates lengthy technology transfer that often delays the start of clinical trials by months. As a result, LimONE empowers cell therapy developers to accelerate the transition from research and development through clinical trials leading to commercialization.

Limula have combined ‘Swiss Made’ precision engineering and Cell and Gene Therapy expertise to build a product that meets the most stringent user requirements. They partnered with Stockholm-based industrial design firm Fjaryl to incorporate input from over 20 academic and industry experts into key design choices following a series of in-person feedback sessions held at the company location in Lausanne, Switzerland.

“Bringing together end-users from both academic and industry for these workshops was invaluable in shaping LimONE’s design. It will help us meet the needs of the variety of target customers working in cell therapy manufacturing, ensuring that LimONE is not just a technological innovation, but a practical, user-centered solution,” said Caroline Boudousquié, onco-immunology expert and Head of Solutions at Limula.

This approach prioritized an intuitive design for all components of the product – a hardware device, single use consumable and a software suite for protocol creation – ensuring ease of adoption and a smooth user experience that addresses key industry needs.

Workshop participant Susanne Kortekaas from LUMC Center for Cell and Gene Therapy in the Netherlands added: “The collaboration involved in the development of LimONE was highly productive and our feedback was carefully considered. I look forward to seeing the finalised version and hope to have the opportunity to test it in the future.”

Improving accessibility and scalability

Limula’s mission is to improve accessibility and scalability, ultimately ensuring that more patients can benefit from these life-saving therapies. “We have always valued transparency and collaboration,” said Luc Henry, CEO of Limula. “Our partners act as an extension of our team. We need to include their expert feedback if we want to offer a truly innovative tool to this industry. It takes a village to build something valuable. We look forward to sharing the outcome of these efforts with additional early adopters in the coming months!”

Limula’s MVP is being tested by users since June 2024. As CEO Luc Henry explains to Startupticker.ch: “The prototype of the product presented in January will be delivered to our first partner in May for privileged access. The product will then be finalized based on their user feedback.”

Interestingly, Limula’s current partners span a diversity of customer profiles, including hospitals that produce cellular therapies(San Raffaele in Milan, Institut Paoli Calmettes in Marseille), CMDOs that offer process development services (Stemmatters in Portugal) and biotechs (Achilles in England). They contribute to the pilots' budget in terms of time and cellular material, often to the tune of tens of thousands of euros, to document the performance of the Limula technology.

(PR - ES)