What MaxWell Biosystems does

MaxWell Biosystems is a Swiss life-sciences tools company founded in 2016 as an ETH Zurich spinoff that develops and commercializes High-Density Microelectrode Array (HD-MEA) platforms for neuroscience research and preclinical drug discovery. Its product portfolio centers on the MaxOne single-well system and the MaxTwo multi-well system (available in 6-, 24-, and 96-well formats), both built on a proprietary CMOS-based switch-matrix chip with 26,400 electrodes that the company describes as the highest electrode count on the market, combined with low-noise recording electronics and the MaxLab Live software for acquisition, spike sorting, and network analysis.

The company monetizes primarily through capital equipment sales of MaxOne and MaxTwo instruments, recurring revenue from proprietary consumables (MaxOne+ Chips and MaxTwo Well Plates), MaxLab Live software licenses, and technical support and training services, with pricing provided via quote rather than publicly disclosed. Go-to-market combines direct enterprise sales supported by global Field Application Scientists with exclusive regional distributors in Japan (Physio-Tech), China (Leads Bio-Technology), Korea (IMsystem), and Poland (I.C.Lab); a wholly-owned US subsidiary, MaxWell Biosystems USA, Inc., was established in San Diego in 2025.

Customers span academic research institutions (e.g., University of Tokyo, UC Santa Barbara, Indiana University, UC Santa Cruz), pharmaceutical and biotech firms (Ricoh Biosciences cited publicly; Roche via the Swiss NGE consortium), CROs, iPSC and organoid cell providers, and an emerging neurocomputing segment, with platform adoption reported in more than 25 countries. Strategic R&D partnerships with Oxford, King's College London, ETH Zurich, MERLN, and the EU-funded HyVIS, MAPSYNE, In-Cytes, Ima-Go, and MO-SAIC consortia, alongside an MRC-Innovate UK £15.9M pain-modeling program, embed MaxWell's technology into major academic and pharma research workflows.

Name

MaxWell Biosystems

Legal name

MaxWell Biosystems AG

Website

https://mxwbio.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

MaxWell Biosystems develops High-Density Microelectrode Array (HD-MEA) platforms for neuroscience research and preclinical drug discovery, serving academic labs, pharmaceutical companies, CROs, and cell providers across 25+ countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Electrophysiology Instrumentation

NAICS

Instrument Manufacturing for Measuring and Testing Electricity and Electrical Signals (334515), Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing (33451), Semiconductor and Related Device Manufacturing (334413)

SIC

Laboratory Analytical Instruments (3826), Instruments For Meas & Testing Of Electricity & Elec Signals (3825)

akta.pro primary industry

Biosensors & Lab-on-Chip (BioMEMS) (HDAHALAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Sensors, MEMS & Imaging ICs (HDAHAAAG)

Keywords

• High-density microelectrode arrays
• Electrophysiology platforms
• Neuroscience research instruments
• Preclinical drug discovery
• CMOS bioelectronics

Headquarters

HQ city

Basel

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. HD-MEA Hardware Systems: Sale of MaxOne and MaxTwo HD-MEA platforms including instruments and配套耗材
2. MEA Chips and Consumables: Recurring revenue from MaxOne+ Chips and MaxTwo Well Plates as consumables
3. Software Licenses and Support: MaxLab Live software with analytics capabilities for neural data processing
4. Technical Support and Training: Expert-level technical and scientific support services, personalized training, and application support

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

MaxWell Biosystems manufactures and sells High-Density Microelectrode Array (HD-MEA) instruments, chips, and software that record and stimulate electrophysiological activity from neurons at single-cell and subcellular resolution. Its flagship products are the MaxOne single-well platform and the MaxTwo multi-well platform, paired with the MaxLab Live software suite, and are used by neuroscience and preclinical drug discovery laboratories worldwide.

Product overview

MaxWell Biosystems offers a unified HD-MEA platform portfolio comprising MaxOne (single-well) and MaxTwo (multi-well) hardware systems, MaxLab Live software for data acquisition and analysis, and specialized consumable chips and well plates. The MaxOne provides single-well HD-MEA recording for detailed single-cell to network-level analysis, while MaxTwo scales to multi-well formats (6-well, 24-well, 96-well) for higher-throughput applications. Both systems share the proprietary HD-MEA technology with high electrode density and low noise characteristics, and are operated through MaxLab Live software for real-time recording, spike sorting, and network analysis.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• MaxOne Single-Well HD-MEA Platform Single-well High-Density Microelectrode Array platform offering versatility and functionality in one compact device for high-resolution electrophysiological recording from individual cells to neural networks. Designed for academic and pharmaceutical neuroscience research using iPSC-derived neurons, organoids, and brain slices.
• MaxTwo Multi-Well HD-MEA Platform Multi-well High-Density Microelectrode Array system that maximizes cell functional assays with 6-well, 24-well, and 96-well plate compatibility for higher-throughput electrophysiological screening and assay workflows. Used by pharma, biotech, and CROs for drug discovery and preclinical testing on human iPSC-derived models.
• MaxLab Live Software All-in-one software platform for recording, spike sorting, analyzing, and visualizing neuronal activity data from MaxOne and MaxTwo HD-MEA systems, integrated with pipelines such as SpikeInterface, Kilosort, and SpyKING CIRCUS. Licensed to HD-MEA customers.
• MaxOne+ Chip Advanced consumable chip for the MaxOne system offering enhanced recording capabilities for organoid and neural network studies; sold as a recurring consumable alongside the MaxOne instrument.
• MaxTwo 24-Well Plate 24-well plate consumable for the MaxTwo system enabling higher-throughput electrophysiological screening and assay workflows with single-neuron resolution across multiple wells in parallel.
• MaxTwo 6-Well Plate 6-well plate consumable for the MaxTwo system providing a medium-throughput option for electrophysiological assays with single-neuron resolution.

Quantifiable outcome

• Strong within-domain performance and above-chance cross-domain generation (ROC-AUC 0.70 ± 0.09 for in vitro → in vivo; 0.80 ± 0.10 for in vivo → in vitro)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• bit.biocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partner providing optimized human iPSC-derived cells for use with MaxWell HD-MEA platforms
• Neuroservice AlliancescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerService partner providing electrophysiology contract research services using MaxWell technology
• BioLaminaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for extracellular matrix solutions supporting organoid and neuronal culture on HD-MEA platforms
• University of OxfordcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLead partner in £15.9M MRC-Innovate UK consortium for Advanced Human In Vitro Models of Pain, using HD-MEA for functional electrophysiological assessment
• King's College LondoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in IUK-Innosuisse project for epilepsy precision medicine, providing patient-specific iPSC brain assembloids
• ETH ZurichcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounding academic partner and origin of core HD-MEA technology; consortium partner in NGE project for machine-learning assisted electrophysiology platform
• MERLN InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoordinator of MO-SAIC project for personalized schizophrenia research with midbrain organoids
• Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoordinator of EU Horizon 2020 HyVIS project for artificial light-sensitive retinal prosthesis
• Oxford StemTechcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner providing ReproPlex iPSC reprogramming technology for epilepsy precision medicine project
• Medicines Discovery CatapultminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUK consortium partner in MRC-Innovate UK pain research project for drug discovery
• F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerConsortium partner in Swiss NGE project for high-throughput electrophysiological screening platform

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights8 records

Direct peers

• MaxWell Biosystems MCS (Multi Channel Systems): Established German manufacturer of microelectrode array (MEA) systems for electrophysiology, including the MEA2100 and HD-MEA platforms. Directly competes with MaxOne and MaxTwo for neuroscience and cardiac safety screening customers, offering a broader catalog with longer commercial history.
• Axion Biosystems: US-based provider of MEA platforms (Maestro) for neuroscience, cardiac, and disease-modeling applications. Closely comparable to MaxWell — both target iPSC-derived neuron screening and pharma high-throughput electrophysiology workflows.
• CytoView (formerly MED64, by Alpha MED Scientific): Japanese-origin MEA platform provider with multi-well MED64 systems used in academic and pharma electrophysiology. Competes directly in the same HD-MEA/MEA workflow category as MaxWell, particularly across APAC markets.

Emerging players

• Nanion Technologies: German electrophysiology instrumentation company specializing in patch-clamp automation (Port-a-Patch, SyncroPatch) and MEA technology. Overlaps with MaxWell's pharma screening use cases but addresses complementary rather than identical workflows.
• Blackrock Microsystems: US-based neural recording technology company serving BCI and research markets with high-channel-count electrode arrays (NeuroPixels). Comparable technology foundation (high-density CMOS-based neural recording) but different end-application focus — invasive BCI versus in vitro MEA.
• Imec: Belgian nanoelectronics R&D center developing CMOS-based neural probes and in vitro MEA chips. Overlaps with MaxWell's underlying CMOS-MEA technology approach and serves overlapping neuroscience research customers, though as a research consortium rather than commercial instrument vendor.
• Sophion Bioscience: Specializes in automated patch-clamp systems (QPatch) for ion channel drug discovery. Adjacent to MaxWell's electrophysiology franchise with overlapping pharma safety-pharmacology customers, but focused on single-cell/manual patch rather than network-level MEA recording.

Broad incumbents

• Molecular Devices: Large-scale life-science instrumentation provider (part of Danaher) offering patch-clamp, MEA, and high-content screening platforms. Addresses similar neuroscience and drug-discovery customers but as part of a much broader portfolio including microplate readers and imaging systems.
• Bruker (Cellular Analysis / Nanostring-era acquisition portfolio): Large analytical instrument manufacturer with presence in neuroscience and cellular analysis. Comparable end customers in pharma and academic neuroscience, but MaxWell's HD-MEA is a niche offering within Bruker's broader microscopy and proteomics portfolio.

Others

• Charles River Laboratories: Major CRO offering electrophysiology and safety-pharmacology services, including iPSC-derived neuron screening. Serves as both a potential customer (uses HD-MEA platforms in service offerings) and a competitive threat for outsourced preclinical neuroscience work.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/mxwbio
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@maxwellbiosystems7631
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/maxwell-biosystems

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds6 records

Investors4 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about MaxWell Biosystems