KTH Holding announces its investment in Cell2Bio AB – a KTH spinoff advancing the field of cell culture with its proprietary technology focused on the growth of cell spheroids. Spheroids are 3D cell structures that mimic natural cell environments such as tumors, making them crucial for drug development and biotech research. Unlike traditional 2D cultures, Cell2Bio’s 3D spheroid technology facilitates a more realistic microenvironment, offering better insights into how cells behave in the human body.

Cell2Bio was born out of a failed experiment where KTH researcher HARISHA RAMACHANDRAIAH observed that cells grew into 3D spheroids on a cellulose coated surface.  This serendipity sparked a journey of several years of research at KTH together with his co-founders Torbjörn Pettersson and Aman Russom to optimize the technology. After having teamed up with entrepreneur Jan Stålemark as CEO, the technology is now ready to be launched on the market.

The market for spheroid and 3D cell culture solutions is large and expanding, projected to reach $1.7 billion by 2024. The company’s unique method allows for the growth of high-quality spheroids from lower concentrations of cells, including the possibility to cultivate patient-derived spheroids for personalized drug testing. This breakthrough has implications for improving cancer research and stem cell applications.

Cell2Bio’s technology utilizes a controlled deposition of nanocellulose coatings on various substrates such as microtiter plates and petri dishes. This creates an optimal surface for cell adhesion and spheroid formation without the need for high cell densities, reducing costs and increasing the feasibility of experiments with limited biological material.