What Lena Biosciences does

Lena Biosciences is an Atlanta-based private biotechnology company that develops and sells organ-on-a-chip and 3D cell culture products, together with related contract research services, for pharmaceutical preclinical safety testing and academic life sciences research. Its core platform is the Perfused Organ Panel, a microphysiological system that integrates three proprietary components: the SeedEZ 3D cell culture scaffold (randomly oriented inert glass microfibers), the PerfusionPal multiwell perfusion plate (up to 96 independent cultures), and Blood Substitute, a synthetic hemoglobin oxygen carrier that delivers oxygen in vivo-like fashion. The platform is complemented by GradientEZ, a 3D cell migration/invasion assay, and contract services in hepatotoxicity and mitochondrial toxicity testing using drug metabolism-competent 3D human liver models. Internal data report 2-10x higher CYP450 activity and 4x higher cellular respiration than 2D cultures, and the liver assay has been validated against more than 40 reference drugs for drug-induced liver injury detection.

The company monetizes through two revenue streams: one-time product sales (sample sheets at $15, consumables at $159-$872, complete starter systems at $16,956-$17,512) and quote-based contract research services. Distribution is hybrid — direct e-commerce via the company website alongside a global distributor network anchored by Sigma-Aldrich/MilliporeSigma for SeedEZ and GradientEZ, and roughly twenty regional distributors across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa. Customer segments are primarily pharmaceutical and biotech companies requiring human-relevant in vitro testing, academic research institutions, and chemical/cosmetic companies conducting toxicity testing. Three granted US patents (7,855,070; 9,334,473; 9,701,938) protect the core technology, and the company is pursuing regulatory qualification of its liver MPS through the 3Rs Collaborative alongside FDA-CDER, Critical Path Institute, and NIEHS-NICEATM. Total funding to date is approximately $2.5M, drawn almost entirely from NIH SBIR grants (NCATS, NIEHS, NINDS), NSF, and Georgia-based foundations — there is no venture capital or growth equity on the cap table.

Name

Lena Biosciences

Legal name

Lena Biosciences, Inc.

Website

https://lenabio.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Lena Biosciences is an Atlanta-based private biotechnology company that develops and sells organ-on-a-chip and 3D cell culture products (SeedEZ, Perfused Organ Panel, Blood Substitute, GradientEZ) along with hepatotoxicity and mitochondrial toxicity contract services for pharmaceutical preclinical safety testing and academic research.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

3D Cell Culture & Microphysiological Systems (Organ-on-a-Chip)

NAICS

Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Medical and Diagnostic Laboratories (62151)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Laboratory Analytical Instruments (3826)

akta.pro primary industry

In Vitro Model Systems & Organoid Platforms (iPSC/organoids, microphysiological systems) (HLAAAIAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Organoids & Organ-on-Chip (regenerative models) (HLAAAGAD), In Vitro Toxicology (Cell-based/Organ-on-chip) (HLAGAFAJ), In Silico / Computational Toxicology & PK/PD Modeling (HLAGAFAM)

Keywords

• 3D cell culture
• Organ-on-a-chip
• Microphysiological systems
• Predictive toxicology
• Drug-induced liver injury

Headquarters

HQ city

Atlanta

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. 3D Cell Culture Products: Sale of physical products including SeedEZ scaffolds, Perfused Organ Panel systems, PerfusionPal plates, Blood Substitute, and GradientEZ assay systems. One-time purchase model with products available at various price points from samples to complete starter systems.
2. Drug Discovery Services: Contract research services for hepatotoxicity testing, mitochondrial toxicity assessment, 3D cell-based assays, organ-on-a-chip services, and 3D cell culture model generation. Services include drug metabolism-competent and oxidative metabolism-competent 3D models for predictive toxicology.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Lena Biosciences develops and sells proprietary 3D cell culture products and microphysiological systems (organ-on-a-chip platforms) for drug discovery and predictive toxicology. Its flagship offering, the Perfused Organ Panel, integrates SeedEZ 3D scaffolds, PerfusionPal plates, and a patented synthetic hemoglobin oxygen carrier (Blood Substitute) to enable continuous perfusion of up to 96 independent organ-like cultures. The company also provides contract research services for hepatotoxicity and mitochondrial toxicity testing using drug metabolism-competent 3D human liver models.

Product overview

Lena Biosciences offers a modular microphysiological system (MPS) platform for drug discovery and predictive toxicology. The core platform is the Perfused Organ Panel, which integrates three key components: (1) SeedEZ 3D cell culture scaffolds for growing cells in physiologically relevant 3D architecture; (2) PerfusionPal plates for continuous parallel perfusion of multiple independent cultures; and (3) Blood Substitute, a synthetic hemoglobin that delivers oxygen in vivo-like fashion. This integrated system is complemented by GradientEZ for 3D cell invasion/migration assays. The company also provides contract services including hepatotoxicity and mitochondrial toxicity testing using their proprietary mechanism-informative assays in drug metabolism-competent 3D human liver models.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SeedEZ: 3D cell culture scaffold for organ-like tissue models and 3D cell-based assays
• Perfused Organ Panel
• PerfusionPal
• Blood Substitute
• GradientEZ

Products and services

• SeedEZ 3D Cell Culture Scaffold 3D cell culture scaffold made of randomly oriented, inert glass microfibers that enables cells to grow in three dimensions with physiologically relevant cell-cell (cadherin) and cell-ECM (integrin) signaling; supports long-term culture (2+ months) and time-course biochemical assaying for pharmaceutical, biotech and academic researchers.
• Perfused Organ Panel Microphysiological System Microphysiological system (MPS) that combines 3D cell cultures with continuous perfusion using synthetic hemoglobin (Blood Substitute) for organ-relevant in vitro results; supports up to 96 statistically independent organ cultures in parallel for drug discovery and predictive toxicology applications.
• PerfusionPal Plate (12-well and 48-well) Perfused multiwell tray component of the Perfused Organ Panel that enables continuous perfusion of 12 or 48 statistically independent cultures with just one tube; available in 12-well and 48-well SLAS-standardized formats.
• GradientEZ 3D Cell Migration / Invasion Assay System 3D cell invasion and migration assay system that enables parallel testing of up to 6 different modulators of cell motility or invasion in a single well, supporting gradient-dependent pathological condition studies in 3D; available in 6-petal and 6-lobe formats.
• Blood Substitute (Synthetic Hemoglobin Oxygen Carrier) Synthetic hemoglobin oxygen carrier that provides in vivo-like oxygen delivery to 3D cell cultures; mimics the oxygen-hemoglobin dissociation curve, is twice as dense as water, pure, completely inert, insoluble and immiscible with media, reagents and drugs, and does not support microorganism growth.
• Hepatotoxicity Testing Service Proprietary contract research service that detects early signals of intrinsic and idiosyncratic drug-induced liver injury (DILI) in a drug metabolism-competent 3D human liver model, including standard cytotoxicity and proprietary mechanism-informative screens that isolate the toxicity trigger; validated with 40+ drugs.
• Mitochondrial Toxicity Testing Service Proprietary contract research service that detects mitochondrial toxicity of parent compounds and their reactive metabolites using an oxidative metabolism-competent and drug metabolism-competent 3D model; designed for early de-risking of drug candidates.

Quantifiable outcome

• 2-10 times higher CYP450 activity compared to 2D cultures
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Dr. Eckhard von KeutzcoreOthers · 7 August 2023Former Senior Vice President and Head of Translational Sciences at Bayer Pharmaceuticals appointed to Business Advisory Board and Science Advisory Board. Brings decades of pharmaceutical experience in drug discovery and development including translational sciences, toxicology, safety pharmacology, DMPK.
• Georgia Institute of TechnologycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing research collaboration. Company originated from Georgia Tech research. Multiple joint publications and ongoing R&D collaboration including Marcus Center for Therapeutic Cell Characterization and Manufacturing partnership.
• Emory UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch collaboration including appointments for co-founder James Shoemaker. Collaboration with Prof. Zhexing Wen on cerebral organoids and brain-on-a-chip research.
• University of AberdeencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with Prof. Valerie Speirs on validation of 3D perfused breast cancer model. Joint publication in PLoS One. Prof. Speirs serves on Science Advisory Board.
• 3Rs CollaborativecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for validation of liver MPS to detect drug-induced liver injury. Includes FDA-CDER, Critical Path Institute, NIEHS-NICEATM, technology developers and end users for regulatory review.
• ATDC (Advanced Technology Development Center)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGeorgia Tech's technology business incubator supporting early-stage companies.
• VentureLabminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGeorgia Research Alliance's technology commercialization program.
• JLABS (Johnson & Johnson)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJohnson & Johnson Innovation laboratory for life sciences startups.
• SpeciCarecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTumor tissue bank partnership for collaboration in cancer research and treatment. Dr. Ken Dixon, founder and CEO of SpeciCare, serves on Science Advisory Board.
• CAAT (Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic center focused on alternative testing methods.
• Critical Path InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration in 3Rs Collaborative DILI NAM validation project for regulatory applications.
• University of MiamiminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with Dr. Emmanuel Thomas at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.
• Augusta UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic research partnership.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Organovo: Broader incumbent in 3D bioprinted human tissue for preclinical drug discovery and disease modeling. Comparable end market (pharma toxicology and disease research) but uses bioprinting rather than MPS scaffolds, and operates as a public company with broader scope.
• Cyprotex (Evotec): Broader CRO offering in vitro ADME and toxicology services including DILI screening. Comparable because Lena competes for the same outsourced hepatotoxicity service budget, though Cyprotex operates at much larger scale under Evotec ownership.
• MatTek Life Sciences: Broader incumbent in 3D reconstructed human tissue models (EpiDerm, EpiOcular) for safety and efficacy testing. Comparable end market (chemical, cosmetic, and pharma safety assessment) but uses static tissue models rather than perfused MPS.

Direct peers

• InSphero: Direct peer in 3D cell culture and organoid-based liver, pancreas, and tumor models for pharma drug safety and efficacy testing. Comparable because both emphasize assay-ready 3D tissue models for DILI and metabolic disease applications.
• TissUse: Direct peer developing multi-organ-on-chip HUMIMIC systems for repeated-dose systemic toxicity testing. Comparable product architecture (perfused MPS chips), comparable customer base (cosmetics, chemicals, pharma), and shared regulatory NAM positioning.
• Emulate: Direct competitor in organ-on-chip and microphysiological systems, focused on liver, lung, intestine, and brain chips for pharma drug development. Comparable because both sell MPS platforms to pharma and academic customers for predictive toxicology and disease modeling.
• CN Bio: Direct competitor offering single- and multi-organ MPS chips for drug safety and efficacy testing, with particular strength in liver and DILI applications. Highly comparable because both target the same DILI NAM validation pathway with FDA and pharma partners.
• Mimetas: Direct peer in organ-on-chip with the OrganoPlate platform for 3D cell culture under perfusion. Comparable target customers (pharma toxicology, academic disease modeling) and similar focus on assay-ready, plate-format MPS workflows.

Emerging players

• AxoSim: Emerging peer in nerve-on-a-chip and MPS platforms for neurological drug development. Comparable as a smaller, neuro-focused MPS company with academic and pharma customer overlap with Lena's brain-on-a-chip work.
• Kirkstall: Emerging peer in MPS offering the Quasi Vivo interconnected multi-organ chamber system. Comparable technology positioning (perfused, connected organ models) but smaller scale and earlier commercial stage than Lena's Perfused Organ Panel.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses1 record

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/lenabiosciences
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lena-biosciences

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds9 records

Investors5 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 Lena Biosciences