What Prometheus Life Technologies does

Prometheus Life Technologies is a Swiss private biotech company that produces human tissue organoids in Low Earth Orbit using microgravity. The company develops a biotechnological process to produce three-dimensional organoids from autologous mesenchymal stem cells in a force-free environment, eliminating the additives and supportive structures required in Earth-based organoid production. Prometheus claims to have established the first full production process for human tissue in microgravity, validated through two ISS missions (SpX-20 and SpX-23) between 2019 and 2021, achieving 100% yield across cartilage, bone, liver, and neuronal tissues with 30+ days of post-flight quality retention.

The company is also developing the first commercial-scale custom hardware for organoid production in microgravity as part of its manufacturing process. Its product portfolio currently centers on organoids for pharmaceutical research, drug testing, precision medicine, and potential transplantation-based therapies, with applications in reducing animal testing.

Prometheus operates a B2B model targeting pharmaceutical companies as the primary segment and life sciences research institutions as a secondary segment. Distribution is via direct enterprise sales, with pricing undisclosed and quote-based. The company is headquartered in Dübendorf, Switzerland, with a European R&D and commercial liaison office in Strasbourg, France, and operates with a small team (1-10 employees) rooted in the University of Zurich research ecosystem. Revenue has not been disclosed, and the company appears to be in pre-commercial stage with its commercial-scale hardware still under development.

Name

Prometheus Life Technologies

Legal name

Prometheus Life Technologies

Website

https://plt.bio

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Prometheus Life Technologies produces human tissue organoids in Low Earth Orbit using microgravity, serving pharmaceutical companies and life sciences research institutions with higher-quality 3D tissue models for drug testing and regenerative medicine applications.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Space-based tissue engineering and biomanufacturing

NAICS

Biological Product (except Diagnostic) Manufacturing (325414), Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714)

SIC

Biological Products, (No Disgnostic Substances) (2836), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Organoids & Organ-on-Chip (regenerative models) (HLAAAGAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

In Vitro Model Systems & Organoid Platforms (iPSC/organoids, microphysiological systems) (HLAAAIAJ), 3D Bioprinting & Biofabrication (HLAAAGAC)

Keywords

• Microgravity organoids
• Space biomanufacturing
• Tissue engineering
• Drug testing models
• Regenerative medicine

Headquarters

HQ city

Zürich

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

Revenue model

1. Organoid Product Sales: Sale of high-quality human tissue organoids produced in microgravity to pharmaceutical companies for drug testing and research purposes, and to life sciences researchers for various applications including precision medicine and transplantation-based therapies.
2. Research Partnership Services: Collaborative research services leveraging the company's microgravity production capabilities and expertise in gravitational biology for pharmaceutical development and testing.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Prometheus Life Technologies produces human tissue organoids (cartilage, bone, liver, neuronal) in Low Earth Orbit using a proprietary microgravity biotechnological process applied to autologous mesenchymal stem cells, enabling 3D growth and differentiation without the additives or supportive structures required on Earth. The company is also developing the first commercial-scale custom hardware for organoid production in microgravity, and offers collaborative research services for pharmaceutical development and testing.

Product overview

Prometheus Life Technologies offers a unified platform centered on space-based organoid production. The core product is human tissue organoids manufactured in Low Earth Orbit using a proprietary microgravity process, which enables superior 3D tissue growth compared to Earth-based production. As part of this offering, the company is developing custom commercial-scale hardware for organoid production in microgravity. The organoids serve pharmaceutical research, drug testing, precision medicine, and potential transplantation therapies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Organoids Human tissue organoids (cartilage, bone, liver, neuronal) produced in Low Earth Orbit using a proprietary microgravity biotechnological process from autologous mesenchymal stem cells, delivering higher-quality 3D in vitro culture systems for pharmaceutical companies, life sciences researchers, precision medicine, and transplantation-based therapy development.
• Custom Hardware for Organoid Production in Microgravity First commercial-scale custom hardware designed for organoid production in microgravity, built as part of Prometheus's biotechnological production process to enable scalable manufacturing of human tissue organoids in space.
• Research Partnership Services Collaborative research services leveraging Prometheus's microgravity organoid production capabilities and gravitational biology expertise for pharmaceutical development, testing, and life sciences research customers.

Quantifiable outcome

• 100% yield achieved for cartilage, bone, liver, and neuronal tissue production in microgravity
• +1 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• ESA-BIC SwitzerlandcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023European Space Agency Business Incubation Center in Switzerland accepted Prometheus Life Technologies into its startup cohort starting January 2023. Provides business incubation support and access to ESA resources and network.
• Orbital Reef ConsortiumminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2022Prometheus won the Reef Starter Innovation Challenge organized by Orbital Reef consortium, which is developing commercial space stations in low Earth orbit. The partnership provides access to Orbital Reef's commercial space station development network and validation opportunities.
• University of Zurich / UZH Space HubcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Prometheus Life Technologies originated from the '3D Organoids from Space' project (3DOiS) initiated in 2018 when UZH and Airbus participated in an innovation competition. The company is licensing technology developed at UZH Space Hub. Co-founders Cora Thiel and Oliver Ullrich are associated with UZH Space Hub, with Cora Thiel serving as Chief Scientist Gravitational Biology and Oliver Ullrich as Director of UZH Space Hub.
• AirbusminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Airbus participated with University of Zurich in the 2018 innovation competition where the '3D Organoids from Space' project prevailed against roughly 500 other ideas. Airbus involvement in the R&D phase 2019-2021.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• InSphero: InSphero provides 3D organoid and spheroid-based in vitro models for pharma drug testing and safety assessment, including liver, pancreatic, and cardiac models — directly comparable product offering to Prometheus's organoid portfolio, produced on Earth rather than in microgravity.
• MIMETAS: MIMETAS develops organ-on-chip technology (OrganoPlate) for disease modeling and drug screening, serving the same pharma R&D customers as Prometheus with microfluidic 3D tissue models that compete on standardization and human-relevance.
• Emulate Bio: Emulate is a leading organ-on-chip company commercializing human-relevant in vitro models (liver, intestine, lung, brain) for pharma drug testing — directly competing with Prometheus in the pharma-organoid and microphysiological systems space, but with Earth-based chip technology rather than microgravity production.
• CN Bio: CN Bio develops organ-on-chip platforms (Liver-Chip, Lung-Chip) used by pharma for drug discovery and toxicology, addressing the same human-relevant testing pain points Prometheus targets, but via single- and multi-organ microphysiological systems on Earth.

Emerging players

• Organoid Therapeutics: Organoid Therapeutics develops patient-derived organoid platforms for drug screening and precision oncology — a niche direct competitor in the pharma organoid space, though focused on cancer applications and Earth-based production.
• bit.bio: bit.bio uses proprietary iPSC reprogramming (opti-ox) to produce consistent human cell types at scale for drug discovery and cell therapy — adjacent to Prometheus's organoid platform, focused on iPSC-derived cells rather than microgravity-produced 3D tissues.
• Aspect Biosystems: Aspect Biosystems develops 3D bioprinted tissue therapeutics and in vitro tissue models using microfluidic bioprinting technology — overlapping with Prometheus in biofabrication and 3D tissue production for pharma, though focused on implantable therapeutics.

Broad incumbents

• Recursion Pharmaceuticals: Recursion applies high-throughput biology, imaging, and AI to phenotypic drug discovery at scale — a large, well-capitalized player in AI-enabled drug discovery that competes for pharma R&D budgets, though via phenotypic screening rather than organoid platforms.
• Cellink (BICO): BICO/Cellink is a broad bioconvergence company offering bioprinters, organoids, and lab automation across pharma and research, overlapping with Prometheus in 3D tissue production and bioprinting but serving customers primarily with Earth-based workflows.

Regional players

• SpacePharma: SpacePharma provides microgravity R&D services and miniaturized lab hardware for in-orbit experiments, including cell culture and biological research — adjacent to Prometheus as a space-life-science infrastructure provider rather than a direct organoid product competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pltbio
• Xx.com/plt_bio

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors1 record

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 Prometheus Life Technologies