Cellbox Labs secured €3.3 million in non-dilutive funding to advance its organ-on-chip technology as regulatory shifts away from animal testing create new market opportunities for the Latvian biotech company.
The Riga-based startup received backing through the Important Project of Common European Interest Tech4Cure initiative, designed to bolster healthcare innovation capabilities across EU markets. The funding comes as pharmaceutical companies seek alternatives to traditional animal testing methods for drug development.
Micro-Engineered Organs for Drug Testing
Founded by Gatis Mozoļevskis, Roberts Rimša, and Artūrs Ābols, Cellbox Labs creates micro-engineered chips that simulate human organ functions across multiple systems including kidney, gut, lung, blood-brain barrier, and pancreatic tissue. The technology promises more accurate and faster drug testing compared to conventional methods.
The company’s vertically stacked channel design separates endothelial and epithelial cell layers using permeable membranes. Non-absorbing materials enhance testing accuracy, while controlled gas conditions enable hypoxia experiments. Mass-manufactured chips ensure reproducible results and can operate in scalable configurations supporting 8 to 24 chips simultaneously.
Strategic Partnerships and Applications
The capital injection will fund several key initiatives, including collaboration with Altis Biosystems to scale automated gut-on-chip models for pharmaceutical applications. Cellbox Labs plans to develop personalized testing models using induced pluripotent stem cells and patient-derived microbiota for precision medicine applications.
The company will embed oxygen and pH sensors directly into chips for real-time monitoring without external hardware requirements. Additional projects include benchmarking GLP-1 generic compounds on pancreatic islet chips under dynamic flow conditions, improving biosimilar testing relevance.
Digital twin model development with ESQlabs and MPSlabs will simulate drug absorption, distribution, and effects by integrating with physiologically-based human models for enhanced in vitro-in vivo translation.
Regulatory Tailwinds Drive Adoption
Recent regulatory changes have accelerated demand for Cellbox Labs’ technology. The FDA eliminated animal testing requirements for certain drug categories, while the National Institutes of Health now mandates organ-on-chip and artificial intelligence integration in funded research programs.
These policy shifts reflect growing recognition that human tissue models may provide more relevant data than animal studies for drug development decisions.
“Our platform is designed for scalability, reproducibility, and integration with next-generation AI workflows” said co-founder and CEO Gatis Mozoļevskis. “This funding positions us to meet the industry’s need for safer, faster, and more human-relevant drug discovery.”
Market Opportunity
The convergence of regulatory support and technological advancement creates significant opportunities for organ-on-chip developers. Pharmaceutical companies face pressure to reduce development timelines and costs while improving drug candidate success rates through more predictive testing methods.
Cellbox Labs’ focus on standardized, scalable chip manufacturing addresses industry concerns about reproducibility in organ-on-chip applications. The company’s integration with AI-enabled drug discovery workflows aligns with broader pharmaceutical industry digitization trends.