How Biotech Startups Are Redefining 3D Models and Sustainability in Drug Discovery
Biotech start-ups showcase advances in disease modelling, automation and sustainability at ELRIG Drug Discovery 2025.
Transformative technologies and shifting regulatory agendas are reshaping how the pharmaceutical industry approaches drug discovery. AI is becoming embedded in every part of the drug development process, from target discovery to the acceleration of clinical trials. Equally, more sophisticated 3D models are providing deeper insights into complex diseases. This year, these innovations culminated in the US Food and Drug Administration announcing steps to replace animal testing in favor of AI and human-based lab models.
Innovation continues to drive the pharmaceutical industry towards more efficient and sustainable drug development. The biotech startup landscape – where developers can take risks unburdened by legacy systems – will be the birthplace of many future innovations.
At the European Laboratory Research and Innovation Group’s (ELRIG) Drug Discovery 2025 event, Technology Networks spoke to a selection of biotech start-ups looking to make their mark on the pharmaceutical industry. We reached out to the companies featured in the Breakthrough Zone, a dedicated area providing young companies with the chance to showcase their technology and platforms, to learn more about the innovations in advanced models, automation and sustainability on display at this year's event.
Adrien Rennesson, CEO and co-founder at Syntopia:
“Current preclinical models often fail to capture the complexity of human biology because 2D cultures lack essential features and animal models are costly and often not predictive. Advanced 3D and organ-on-chip systems try to bridge this gap but face a trade-off: static 3D models are easy to scale but lack perfusion and compartmentalization, while microfluidic systems offer these features but are complex and hard to integrate."
“Syntopia overcomes this challenge by combining physiologically relevant 3D biology with a pump-free microfluidic platform that seamlessly integrates into standard high-throughput screening workflows, enabling continuous perfusion, compartmentalization and multiparametric data generation. Our solutions are designed to be human-relevant, cost-efficient and automation-ready, making them particularly suited to applications such as immuno-oncology and neurology, where these features are essential to model complex biological interactions and deliver predictive, scalable preclinical data.”
Dr. Luke Cox, CEO and co-founder at Impulsonics:
“Impulsonics is making cell passaging simple to automate. This is one of the most common, repetitive processes in biotech, but also the source of a huge portion of the complexity in cell culture automation, which has kept it overwhelmingly manual."
“We had multiple people approaching us at ELRIG telling us about million-pound-plus room-sized systems sitting idle while bench scientists work long hours at the job those machines were supposed to do for them. Our system can achieve that same bottleneck in a benchtop device and is highly robust to different cell types. This makes higher-quality automated data easily accessible for scientists and can give them hundreds of hours of their life back to focus on the problems that really matter rather than repetitive drudge work. We also reduce plastic waste by around 50% per process, which is a much-appreciated side benefit.”
Matej Metkovic, CEO and founder at Wasteless Bio:
“We [Wasteless Bio] are solving a big issue of products going to waste due to overordering, liquidations and overproduction. We are a marketplace that connects unused and second-hand life science products with people who need them the most. Thus, we lower the cost by over 50% and reduce scope 3 emissions and operational waste."
“What Vinted is doing for clothes, we are trying to do for science."
“It is a win-win since the products are not going to waste but instead are sold or donated to the people who struggle, as not everyone is fortunate enough to have big funding.”
Dr. Paola Occhetta, CEO and co-founder at BiomimX:
“At BiomimX, we are closing the translational gap between preclinical models and human biology through our proprietary uBeat® platform, which integrates 3D microtissues with controlled mechanical stimulation. Every tissue in the body is subject to motion, yet most in vitro models remain static. By reproducing the dynamic environment of living organs, our “Beating Organs on Chip” reach unprecedented levels of tissue maturation and functionality. This provides a window into human organs and complex diseases, resulting in more reliable, responsive and predictive models to investigate new therapies."
"Our technology combines microfluidics, live human cells and tunable mechanical stimuli to better reflect human complexity and recreate key physiological and pathological processes. This enables early, human-relevant insights into drug safety and efficacy, significantly reducing reliance on animal testing and improving clinical predictivity."
"Building on this platform, BiomimX has developed a growing portfolio of models, including cardiac, musculoskeletal and fibrotic tissues, that are already supporting pharmaceutical programs worldwide. By bridging biology and engineering, our technology is transforming how new therapies are discovered and developed, delivering more reliable data faster and with higher translational value.”
