FluoSphera S.A., a biotechnology company developing versatile and disruptive in-vitro solutions for drug discovery to predict drug efficacy and safety under systemic conditions, today announced that the company has been awarded a grant of CHF1,100,000 Swiss francs from Innosuisse, the Swiss Innovation Agency. Innosuisse fosters science-based innovation projects with above-average and disruptive potential to the market for the benefit of the economy and society, thereby enhancing the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises in Switzerland.

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FluoSphera will conduct a two-year research project, budgeted at CHF 2.3 million, of which CHF 1.1 million is covered by the Innosuisse Grant. The FluoSphera project will focus on developing new assays to overcome challenges which limit drug developers in their ability to predict the toxicity effects of drugs in humans. Unlike other translational medicine methods, the FluoSphera platform focuses on safety and efficacy assessment of drugs using human 3D models by integrating systemic drug exposure. The proposed research will generate multiplexed data that can predict human response with greater accuracy and precision than conventional cell culture or animal-based experimental testing. And importantly, the project will demonstrate how the FluoSphera technology platform can significantly reduce the risk of drug discovery and increase the probability to identify the right candidate drugs before reaching human clinical evaluation and thus, dramatically impact the cost and timelines to bring safe and effective medicines to patients in need.

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To carry out this ambitious project, FluoSphera will partner with the team of Professor Gerardo Turcatti, Director of Biomolecular Screening Platform at the EPFL in Lausanne, and with the laboratory of Professor Aurélien Roux, Professor at the University of Geneva and Scientific Director of ACCESS, which provides an academic screening platform for Switzerland. The project will bring about the calibration of its assays for high-content screening, and the validation of its first services for entering the market. FluoSphera scientists will continue to develop in vitro methods, which allow for prediction of systemic drug effects on the human body. These methods will be used for drug discovery, which will address unmet medical needs and increase the availability of medicines to more patients. The company will make these services available to the broader pharmaceutical industry through direct sales and licensing, partnerships, and collaborations.

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“We are honored to receive this support from Innosuisse and thank the Innovation Council to support our project. We also thank Marco Rüedi, our business coach, for his guidance to transfer our disruptive innovation to the market, as well as FONGIT, Switzerland's premier innovation hub, which has always supported us since the inception of the company” said Clelia Bourgoint, Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder of FluoSphera S.A. “We founded the company in Switzerland because its business-friendly environment, skilled workforce, and growing biotechnology ecosystem make it an ideal place to expand the company and achieve our goal to develop a more accurate and less costly way of testing drugs on human 3D models while reducing animal use. This grant will help Switzerland stay on the forefront of bioscience innovation and will positively impact human health,” said Gregory Segala, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of FluoSphera S.A.
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About FluoSphera S.A.

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FluoSphera S.A. is a biotech company at the forefront of innovation solving for the design of better medicines for patients. By employing its unique and proprietary multiplexing technology alongside with high content screening, FluoSphera’s flexible cell systems mimic the natural physiology of the human body, its complex biology and disease status, and thus permits researchers to rapidly and precisely study the human response to systemic drug delivery. The company is driven by creativity and scientific excellence to develop disruptive solutions for drug discovery. To learn more, visit: www.fluosphera.com or follow us on Linkedin and Twitter.

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