ABS Biotechnologies

What ABS Biotechnologies does

ABS Biotechnologies GmbH is an Austrian biotechnology company founded in 2022 and headquartered at Technopark 1 in Tulln an der Donau, Lower Austria. The company operates a drug toxicity screening platform built on human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology licensed from the University of Cambridge. Its platform generates two complementary cell models: blood vessel cells derived from diverse anatomic locations (enabling detection of vascular bed-specific side effects such as heart attacks and strokes) and high-maturity cardiomyocytes produced via patented epicardial cell technology (enabling more accurate prediction of dangerous irregular heartbeats than incumbent iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes). The platform is positioned to address the historical problem that over 100 drugs have been withdrawn from market due to cardiovascular adverse events.

The company serves two customer segments. The primary segment comprises pharmaceutical and biotech companies developing new drug compounds that require rigorous cardiovascular safety screening; the secondary segment comprises academic and research institutions needing ethically sourced, high-quality human iPSC lines and cardiovascular disease models. Revenue is generated through three streams: (1) off-the-shelf research-grade wild-type iPSC lines sold on a pay-as-you-go basis, (2) custom-made hiPSC lines derived from whole blood or skin biopsy with a 4-month lead time, and (3) contract drug screening services delivered under multi-year B2B engagements. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed. Distribution is direct enterprise sales with a global geographic claim but current operating geographies concentrated in DACH (Austria) and the United Kingdom.

The company is founder-led by CEO Dr Chukwuma Agu (PhD, MBA; former Cambridge postdoctoral fellow with 20+ years in life sciences) and CSO Dr Johannes Bargehr (MD, PhD; principal investigator at the Wellcome-MRC Stem Cell Institute, Nature Biotechnology thesis). The Scientific Advisory Board is chaired by Prof Sanjay Sinha (BHF Senior Clinical Research Fellow at Cambridge). The team comprises roughly 10–15 staff including senior cardiac scientists, technical specialists, and master's students, and the company is actively hiring for Technical Specialist and Senior Scientist roles. To date, ABS has received non-dilutive public grant funding from Austrian government bodies (AWS, BMDW, FFG), won the Cambridge IMAGINE IF! Programme 2021, and is publicly soliciting partnerships, collaborations, and investors via its partnering page.

Name

ABS Biotechnologies

Legal name

ABS Biotechnologies GmbH

Website

https://absbiotechnologies.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

ABS Biotechnologies GmbH is an Austrian biotechnology company operating an iPSC-based drug screening platform for detecting cardiovascular drug side effects. Built on University of Cambridge–licensed IP, it serves pharmaceutical companies and research institutions with off-the-shelf iPSC lines, custom cell lines, and contract screening services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Tulln

HQ country

Austria

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. iPSC Lines (Research Use): Sale of commercially consented, off-the-shelf, research-grade iPSC lines for drug development and disease modeling research. Also offers custom-made hiPSC lines derived from whole blood or skin biopsy samples with 4-month lead time.
2. Drug Screening Services: Contract research services for pharmaceutical companies using the company's iPSC platform to screen drug compounds for cardiovascular side effects including heart attacks, strokes, dangerous irregular heartbeats, and high blood pressure.
3. Cardiovascular Models: Derived cardiovascular cell models including blood vessel cells from different anatomic locations and functionalised heart muscle cells for drug toxicity testing.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

ABS Biotechnologies operates a drug screening platform using human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology to predict cardiovascular drug side effects. The platform combines blood vessel cells generated from diverse anatomic locations with high-maturity cardiomyocytes produced through patented epicardial cell technology, enabling early detection of drug-induced heart attacks, strokes, irregular heartbeats, and high blood pressure. The company also sells off-the-shelf and custom-made research-grade iPSC lines to pharmaceutical companies and research institutions.

Product overview

ABS Biotechnologies operates as a drug safety screening company built around an integrated iPSC-based platform. The core offering is a Drug Screening Platform that combines Blood Vessel Cells (from diverse anatomic locations) with High-Maturity Cardiomyocytes to predict cardiovascular drug side effects. Supporting the platform are Wild-type Human iPSC Lines (off-the-shelf, research-grade) and Custom-made hiPSC Lines generated from whole blood or skin biopsy samples. The iPSC Platform serves as the foundational technology enabling disease modeling, mechanistic studies, drug screening campaigns, and therapeutic target discovery.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Drug Screening Platform Integrated contract research service that uses blood vessel cells from diverse anatomic locations and high-maturity cardiomyocytes to screen drug compounds for cardiovascular side effects in a high-throughput fashion, enabling early detection of drug-induced heart attacks, strokes, arrhythmias, and high blood pressure. Targeted at pharmaceutical and biotech companies developing new drug compounds.
• Wild-type Human iPSC Lines Off-the-shelf, research-grade, commercially consented hiPSC lines cryopreserved in 1.2 mL threaded cryogenic vials and quality-controlled for pluripotency, trilineage differentiation markers, SNP-based array karyotyping, human pathogen testing, STR analysis, and post-thaw viability verification. Sold to research institutions and biotech customers for disease modeling and drug development research.
• Custom-made hiPSC Lines Customized human induced pluripotent stem cell line generation service from whole blood (PBMC-derived) or skin biopsy (fibroblast-derived) samples from carefully screened and consented donors, with a 4-month lead time. Includes optional CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing with PCR, sequencing, and Western blot validation. Targeted at research institutions needing patient- or donor-specific hiPSC lines.
• Blood Vessel Cells Platform Off-the-shelf or project-based supply of iPSC-derived blood vessel cells corresponding to different anatomic locations in the human body, enabling detection of cardiovascular drug side effects that occur only in certain vascular beds, including heart attacks and strokes. Provided to pharmaceutical customers for drug toxicity testing and to researchers for vascular disease modeling.
• High-Maturity Cardiomyocytes iPSC-derived, high-maturity cardiomyocytes generated using patented epicardial cell technology, more closely resembling mature human heart tissue than existing technologies and able to predict dangerous irregular heartbeats (arrhythmias) with greater precision. Supplied to pharmaceutical and biotech customers for preclinical cardiac safety testing.
• iPSC Platform (CRISPR/Cas9 Gene Editing Service) iPSC technology platform that enables disease modeling, mechanistic studies, large-scale drug screening campaigns, and therapeutic target discovery and validation, including targeted CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing of iPSCs with delivery method optimisation and validation by PCR, sequencing, and Western blotting. Targeted at academic and industry researchers.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 100 drugs have been withdrawn from market due to cardiovascular side effects
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• iPS Academia Japan, Inc.coreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing Partner · 1 January 2021Licensing partner providing authorization for ABS Biotechnologies to provide high-quality iPSC lines and derived cardiovascular models to clients, ensuring compliance and reliability for research and development purposes.
• ID PharmacoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerLicensing partner providing authorization for ABS Biotechnologies to provide high-quality iPSC lines and derived cardiovascular models to clients, ensuring compliance and reliability for research and development purposes.
• University of CambridgecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIP licensed from world-leading academic laboratory at University of Cambridge. Founders and Scientific Advisory Board Chair Prof Sanjay Sinha are based at Cambridge. Dr Johannes Bargehr trained at Cambridge and continues as principal investigator at Wellcome-MRC Stem Cell Institute.
• Cambridge inno-forumminorOthersOrganization running the IMAGINE IF! Programme innovation competition which ABS Biotechnologies won in 2021.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• FUJIFILM Cellular Dynamics: The leading commercial supplier of iPSC-derived cell lines including cardiomyocytes, used widely for cardiac safety and drug discovery. Directly comparable as an iPSC + cardiovascular drug-screening platform, but at vastly greater scale and with broader cell-type catalog.
• Stemcell Technologies: Major life science tools supplier of stem cell research products including iPSC lines and differentiation kits. Comparable as an established catalog provider in the iPSC/stem-cell research market that ABS also serves.

Direct peers

• Ncardia: A European (Dutch/Belgian) iPSC-focused company offering iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes and neural cells plus assay services for cardiac safety and drug discovery. Closest direct peer given geographic footprint, iPSC platform, and cardiac safety orientation.
• Axol Bioscience: UK-based supplier of iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes and other cell types for disease modeling and drug discovery, with a strong academic and pharma customer base. Comparable in offering iPSC-derived cells and custom-line services for safety pharmacology.
• TARA Biosystems (now Valo Health): Developed human cardiac tissue models for predictive cardiac safety and efficacy screening, directly addressing the same cardiovascular toxicity use case for pharma. Highly comparable on cardiac safety screening GTM.
• bit.bio: UK-based company using proprietary iPSC reprogramming (opti-ox) to produce defined human cell types at scale for research and drug discovery. Comparable as an iPSC platform offering catalog human cell lines including cardiac-relevant lineages.
• ReproCELL (now part of Axcelead/Bioserve): Supplier of iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes (e.g., ReproCardio) and stem-cell-based products for cardiac safety and drug discovery, directly overlapping ABS's iPSC + cardiovascular value proposition.

Emerging players

• HeartBeat.bio: Austrian/European biotech building cardiac organoid and 3D tissue platforms for high-throughput cardiac drug discovery and safety. Highly comparable given geography (Austria/DACH) and focus on high-throughput cardiovascular drug screening.
• InSphero: Swiss-based provider of organ-on-chip and 3D microtissue models for safety and efficacy testing. Comparable as an alternative in vitro model platform for drug safety assessment, though focused on broader tissue types including liver and pancreatic islets.
• Pluriomics (now Ncardia): Pre-merger entity developing iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes and cardiac disease models for drug safety. Now integrated into Ncardia but historically a comparable cardiovascular iPSC platform peer.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/abs-biotechnologies-gmbh

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 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 ABS Biotechnologies