Two life sciences companies, Limula and ND Biosciences, have recently been awarded the Biopôle Start-up Fund. The initiative, which includes up to CHF 90,000 support per year for up to three consecutive years, aims to boost innovative and promising life sciences projects. The fund is designed to help with the costs of rental, R&D and key services.

Both ND Biosciences and Limula are established members of StartLab, the fully equipped shared lab space launched by Biopôle SA in 2018.

Limula is developing a unique proprietary platform for closed and automated manufacturing of cell-based therapies under development for treating previously uncurable cancer and other life-threatening conditions. The aim is to make these highly personalised treatments safer, more affordable and more accessible to the patients. Limula’s seven-strong team is led by Luc Henry, former advisor to EPFL President Martin Vetterli.

Meanwhile, ND Biosciences develops next-generation therapeutics and diagnostics for neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. Their technologies and innovative platforms allow them to develop novel therapies and diagnostics that account for the complexity and heterogeneity of pathological species and processes, which distinguishes them from other companies focusing on only one specific form or process. Co-founded by Hilal Lashuel and Bilal Fares, the team moved to StartLab in September 2019 and now comprises six people.

Luc Henry, CEO and Co-Founder of Limula, said: ‘We are incredibly grateful to receive another boost in the form of the Biopôle Start-up Fund. It is an award that will give us the space, time and resources we need to make an impact ­– and ultimately, to make it easier to produce cell therapies routinely, at scale.’

Co-Founder of ND Biosciences, Bilal Fares, commented: ‘We feel very fortunate to be part of the Biopôle ecosystem. Since our incubation at Startlab in 2019, we were able to interact, collaborate, learn and advance at a very quick pace. The new support provided through the Biopôle Start-up Fund will allow ND Biosciences to expand its lab space, accelerate certain R&D processes, and develop the patenting strategy of its new exciting products’.

Since it was launched in May 2021, the Biopôle Start-up Fund has supported a diverse selection of organisations, including Genknowme, Novostia, Alithea Genomics, Adaptyv Biosystems, Testmate, Atinary and biped.ai. Biopôle’s CEO, Nasri Nahas, said: ‘We’re thrilled to welcome two more dynamic start-ups to join our Start-up Fund. We can’t wait to see what happens next for them in the coming months and years.’

Companies interested in applying for the Biopôle Start-up Fund can find all the information they need by clicking on the box on the right.

The next application deadline is 15^th December, 2022.