What HUB Organoids does

HUB Organoids B.V. is a Netherlands-based contract research organization that commercializes patient-derived organoid (PDO) technology for drug discovery and development. Founded in 2013 as the Hubrecht Organoid Technology Foundation and based in Utrecht, the company was built on research by Professor Hans Clevers demonstrating that Lgr5+ adult stem cells can be used to generate self-organizing "mini-organs in a dish" from both healthy and diseased patient tissue. The company transitioned to a private limited company structure in July 2023 and was subsequently acquired by the Life Science business of Merck KGaA (MilliporeSigma in the US/Canada) in December 2024 for approximately €104 million.

HUB's core product portfolio is organized around three service pillars: Drug Screening Services (including PDO Screen, HumanTox Insight, IntegriGut Screen, KRASmut PDO Screen, ADC Organoid Screen, and Bispecific Screening Solutions); Custom Model and Assay Development for novel disease models including organoid co-cultures with immune cells, fibroblasts, and microbiome; and Clinical Trials in a Dish, which uses PDOs as patient avatars for co-clinical drug testing and biomarker discovery. These services are powered by the proprietary HUB Organoid Technology platform (Lgr5+ stem cell-derived organoids covered by foundational patents) and supported by a Living Biobank of thousands of patient-derived organoid samples across multiple tissue types. Therapeutic focus areas span oncology, immuno-oncology, inflammatory diseases, genetic diseases, infectious diseases, and toxicology.

HUB operates an enterprise sales-led go-to-market model targeting large and mid-size pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology firms, and academic institutions. The company monetizes through professional services (CRO contracts for drug screening, custom assay development, and clinical trials in a dish) and technology licensing (HUB Organoid Technology licensing program allowing in-house implementation by pharma partners). Pricing is quote-based with multi-year contract cadences. Distribution is direct to enterprise clients globally, augmented by core ecosystem partnerships (STEMCELL Technologies for media supply, Mimetas for organ-on-chip, Promega for assays, Molecular Devices and Opentrons for automation). Named enterprise customers include Merck KGaA, Boehringer Ingelheim, Roche, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, and Bayer.

Name

HUB Organoids

Legal name

HUB Organoids B.V.

Website

https://www.huborganoids.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Acquired

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

HUB Organoids is a Netherlands-based biotechnology CRO developing patient-derived organoid (PDO) models for drug discovery. It serves pharmaceutical and biotech companies through drug screening, custom assay development, and clinical trials in a dish, leveraging its foundational Lgr5+ stem cell organoid technology and living biobank.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Preclinical Drug Discovery CRO Services

NAICS

Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Services-Medical Laboratories (8071)

akta.pro primary industry

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

akta.pro secondary industries

In Vivo Pharmacology (Efficacy/PD Models) (HLAGAFAA), In Silico / Computational Toxicology & PK/PD Modeling (HLAGAFAM), Organoids & Organ-on-Chip (regenerative models) (HLAAAGAD), Antibody Discovery & Engineering Platforms (display tech, bispecifics, Fc engineering) (HLAAAIAB)

Keywords

• Patient-derived organoids
• Drug screening services
• Preclinical CRO
• Organoid technology licensing
• Clinical trials in a dish

Headquarters

HQ city

Utrecht

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Contract Research Services: CRO services providing drug screening, custom assay development, and clinical trials in a dish. Revenue from service contracts with pharmaceutical companies, biotech firms, and academic institutions.
2. Technology Licensing: Licensing of HUB Organoid Technology to pharmaceutical companies, biotech firms, and other organizations for drug discovery and development applications.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

HUB Organoids provides contract research services and technology licensing built on patient-derived organoids (PDOs). Its offering spans preclinical drug screening (oncology, immuno-oncology, inflammatory, infectious disease, and toxicology), custom model and assay development, and clinical trials in a dish, all powered by its proprietary Lgr5+ stem cell-derived organoid platform and living biobank. Pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients engage HUB to predict patient response, reduce drug attrition, and accelerate preclinical-to-clinical timelines.

Product overview

HUB Organoids offers a comprehensive portfolio of patient-derived organoid (PDO) services and technology for drug discovery and development. The core offering consists of three main service pillars: Drug Screening Services (including PDO Screen, HumanTox Insight, IntegriGut Screen, KRASmut PDO Screen, ADC Organoid Screen, and Bispecific Screening Solutions), Custom Model and Assay Development, and Clinical Trials in a Dish. These services are powered by the proprietary HUB Organoid Technology platform built on Lgr5+ adult stem cell-derived organoids, supported by a living biobank of thousands of patient-derived models. The company also offers technology licensing programs for partners to implement organoid technology in-house. The portfolio enables pharmaceutical companies to predict patient responses, reduce drug attrition rates, and accelerate preclinical to clinical timelines.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Drug Screening Services Comprehensive drug screening services using patient-derived organoids to predict patient-specific responses, evaluate compound efficacy and toxicity, and reduce drug attrition in preclinical development. Targeted at pharmaceutical and biotechnology drug discovery teams.
• PDO Screen Fast, cost-effective screening service on a preset panel of patient-derived cancer organoids using an ATP-based cell-viability assay with IC50 readouts in 3D format, compatible with 96- and 384-well plates for testing up to 10 compounds in triplicate with 10-point dose-response curves.
• HumanTox Insight Toxicology screening service that uses patient-derived organoids to assess animal-to-human translatability in preclinical toxicology research, enabling prediction of drug safety profiles before clinical trials. For pharmaceutical and biotech toxicology groups.
• IntegriGut Screen Screening service for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) drug development that uses IBD patient-derived organoid monolayers to provide high-quality human data on epithelial barrier function, including TEER, permeability, and viability measurements within 3 weeks. Offers Efficacy mode and Biobank options for lead identification and validation.
• KRASmut PDO Screen Pre-set screening service leveraging 25 patient-derived organoids with clinically relevant KRAS mutations (G12D, G12C, G12V) for rapid, cost-effective testing of KRAS inhibitors across multiple cancer indications.
• KRAS Induced Resistance Models PDO models progressively exposed to G12C inhibitors until emergence of drug resistance, enabling exploration of secondary resistance mechanisms and identification of combination strategies to overcome resistance in KRAS-driven cancers.
• mCRC PDO Screening Panel Metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) drug screening panel using patient-derived organoids to support compound ranking, combination selection, and fail-fast decisions before clinical commitment, including lead identification, lead optimization, and efficacy + safety evaluation packages.
• ADC Organoid Screen Screening service for antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) development, including OrganoID-Flow for target antigen expression analysis, ADC Efficacy Screen for potency assessment, and ADC Optimization Screen for comprehensive efficacy and safety profiling on both tumor and normal organoids.
• Bispecific Screening Solutions Organoid-based co-culture platform using patient-derived tumor organoids with immune cells to evaluate bispecific antibodies, T cell engagers, cytokine-based therapies, small molecule immunomodulators, and CAR T-cells, enabling assessment of tumor-selective killing and immune engagement.
• Custom Model and Assay Development Custom development services for novel disease models and tailored assays using patient-derived organoid technology, supporting specific therapeutic areas or diseases including organoid co-cultures with immune cells, fibroblasts, and microbiome for pharmaceutical and biotech clients.
• Clinical Trials in a Dish Co-clinical drug testing service that uses patient-derived organoids as patient avatars to test clinical candidates, stratify patient populations, predict patient response, and discover novel biomarkers before clinical trials.
• HUB Organoid Technology Licensing Technology licensing program allowing industry partners to use HUB's proprietary organoid technology in-house, including optimized protocols, validated reagents, end-to-end tech transfer support, and on-site training, with license packages covering drug development, equipment validation, and custom applications.
• HUB Organoid Biobank Living biobank of thousands of patient-derived organoids across multiple tissue types and disease indications, including well-characterized models with DNA- and RNA-seq analysis, available for drug screening, lead identification, optimization, and co-clinical trials.
• PDO Monolayer Physiologically relevant human epithelial platform derived from patient intestinal crypt biopsies that recapitulates in vivo gut epithelium composition including all differentiated cell types, suitable for barrier function studies and infectious disease research.
• PDO Co-cultures Organoid-based immune cell co-culture platform combining patient-derived tumor organoids with immune cells (T cells, macrophages, NK cells, neutrophils, fibroblasts) to model tumor microenvironment and evaluate immunotherapy efficacy.

Named customers7 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

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• MimetascoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerExpanded license agreement covering all organs. Mimetas utilizes HUB Organoid Technology for organ-on-a-chip applications and integrated tissue models.
• PromegacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partnership for co-developing assay technologies combining Promega's assay platforms with HUB Organoid Technology for drug discovery applications.
• imecminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partnership potentially involving advanced imaging and sensing technologies for organoid analysis.
• Yamaha MotorminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration potentially involving automation or robotics for organoid production and handling.
• STEMCELL TechnologiescoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerExclusive supplier of organoid cell culture media for HUB Organoid Technology, providing specialized reagents for organoid culture and maintenance.
• BioIVTminorGTM or Marketing PartnerWebinar collaboration for educational content related to human tissue models and drug discovery applications.
• CyprotexminorGTM or Marketing PartnerWebinar collaboration for educational content on drug discovery and toxicology screening applications.
• Scientist.comminorGTM or Marketing PartnerHosting of webinars and educational content through the Scientist.com platform for research community outreach.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Cyprotex (Evotec): Contract research organization specializing in preclinical ADME/Tox and predictive toxicology, now part of Evotec. Comparable to HUB's HumanTox Insight toxicology screening services and a marketing partner.
• Mimetas: Dutch organ-on-a-chip company that licenses HUB Organoid Technology for integrated tissue models. Directly competes in the organoid-derived disease modeling space with chip-based platforms.
• Crown Bioscience: Global preclinical CRO offering patient-derived xenograft (PDX) and organoid-based drug discovery services to pharma. Directly comparable to HUB as a CRO serving pharma with disease model and screening services, now part of J&J.
• InSphero: Provider of 3D microtissue and organoid models for drug discovery and toxicology, serving pharma with predictive in vitro assays. Closely comparable to HUB's preclinical screening and toxicology offerings.
• Epistem: UK-based preclinical CRO offering organoid and epithelial model services for drug discovery and toxicology. Directly comparable as a niche CRO serving pharma with predictive human tissue models.
• Cellesce: Specializes in expansion and scale-up of organoids using bioreactor technology for drug discovery and research applications. Comparable to HUB in providing organoid-based products to pharma and biotech.

Emerging players

• DefiniGEN: Provides iPSC-derived human cell models and disease modeling services for drug discovery. Overlaps with HUB in disease modeling for pharma, but uses iPSC rather than adult stem cell-derived organoids.
• NewStem: Israel-based company developing iPSC/hESC-based models for drug screening and therapeutic discovery. Adjacent competitor to HUB in the 3D biology / disease modeling space.

Others

• STEMCELL Technologies: Specialty media and reagents supplier for stem cell and organoid culture, and HUB's exclusive media partner. Adjacent ecosystem participant rather than direct competitor, but enabling HUB's workflow.

Broad incumbents

• BICO (CELLINK): Broader life-science tools conglomerate covering bioprinting, organoids, and 3D cell culture. Overlaps with HUB in organoid and 3D biology tooling but as a wider portfolio play rather than a focused organoid CRO.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/huborganoids

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 HUB Organoids