Xellar Biosystems Secures Tens of Millions in Strategic Funding to Advance 'AI + Organ-on-a-Chip' for Next-Gen Drug Development

36Kr has learned that Xellar Biosystems has recently completed a new round of strategic financing worth tens of millions of yuan. This round of financing was led by XtalPi, with existing shareholders TIANTU CAPITAL and Yae Capital continuing to increase their investment. The funds raised will be used to accelerate the construction of the company's "3D-Wet-AI" closed-loop system, expand international cooperation, and promote multi-scenario commercialization.

Xellar Biosystems was established at the end of 2021, focusing on assisting core processes of new drug development such as clinical research and safety evaluation by developing high-throughput organ-on-a-chip and AI model platforms. 36Kr previously reported on it.Report。

Notably, a significant boon for organoid and organ-on-a-chip companies has emerged recently as the U.S. FDA officially announced plans to gradually eliminate the mandatory requirement for animal testing in the development of drugs like monoclonal antibody therapies. This marks another milestone for the organoid and organ-on-a-chip field following the previous "FDA Modernization Act 2.0" (2022).

Saving "Monkey King" and Embracing AI, Is This Technological Revolution That Could "Disrupt" Traditional Drug Discovery Approaches Finally Bringing the "Spring" for Organoid and Organ-on-a-Chip Companies?

The market feedback on this has been mixed. While some opponents argue that it is an "irresponsible move" that could lead to chaos in the biopharmaceutical industry, support is more widespread. This is because, compared to previous documents that were strong on promises but weak on action, this policy provides more concrete alternative implementation strategies, such as encouraging the integration of organoid technology and AI algorithms.

Previously, Xellar Biosystems participated in the OASIS Consortium initiated by the FDA, EPA, and more than 10 multinational pharmaceutical companies, supporting the development of next-generation clinical drug toxicity prediction tools and the establishment of related standards. From an industry perspective, Xie Xin, the company's founder and CEO, mentioned that pharmaceutical companies are also interested in paying for "alternatives to animal testing."

According to his observation, the world's top 20 pharmaceutical companies have "deployed new tools like organoids/organ-on-a-chip," and what they value most is reducing the cost of large-scale drug screening through high-throughput methods, as well as enhancing model prediction and evaluation accuracy through approaches such as "AI+."

Currently, Xellar Biosystems is also leveraging human cell models and large AI models to provide analysis and prediction of the safety and efficacy of new drugs, thereby accelerating the drug development process.

Taking the company's self-developed EPIC™ technology platform as an example, this platform aims to achieve the rapid construction of complex microenvironments, multi-dimensional imaging and omics analysis, as well as mechanism-level drug efficacy extrapolation capabilities by integrating microfluidic chip technology, disease organoid modeling, high-throughput experimental systems, and generative AI algorithm technologies.

Currently, this platform can serve multiple cutting-edge industrial scenarios such as early drug toxicity prediction, functional food and skincare product screening, and simulation of individualized treatment responses. Xellar Biosystems has also established project cooperation and data delivery mechanisms with international pharmaceutical and cosmetics companies such as Sanofi, Pfizer, and L'Oréal, promoting the implementation of non-clinical evaluation standards as an alternative to animal testing.

Views of Founders and Investment Institutions:

Xiaoxin Xie, Ph.D., Founder and CEO of Xellar Biosystems, said,The integration of AI and organ-on-a-chip is becoming the "new operating system" for life sciences, which is not only an upgrade of a single technology but also a reconstruction of the entire R&D logic. The participation of XtalPi not only provides collaborative support in computation and automation but also represents our confidence in moving towards systematic and platform-based transformation. In the future, Xellar Biosystems will continue to expand its global customer network, accelerate commercialization in key areas such as drug development, and actively participate in the formulation of international standards by organizations like the FDA and OECD.

Dr. Shuhaotem Wen, Chairman of XtalPi, stated,Xellar Biosystems is our strategic partner in the AI + organ-on-a-chip field. At XtalPi, we have long been committed to promoting the deep integration of AI algorithms, quantum chemistry, and automated experimental platforms, with the goal of building an end-to-end, sustainably iterative drug development system. The technical approach of the Xellar team shows us the realistic possibility of embedding in vitro human biomimetic systems into the AI closed loop. We hope that both parties can jointly accelerate the implementation of AI in the biomedical field.

Wei Guoxing, partner of TIANTU CAPITAL, said,Xellar Biosystems is one of the key technology platform enterprises laid out by TIANTU CAPITAL. Over the past two years, the team has not only rapidly iterated in chip design and organoid modeling but also taken the lead in collaborating with international pharmaceutical companies and regulatory agencies to promote the establishment of industry standards. This round of XtalPi's participation represents a typical "technology coupling" capital synergy. As the flagship project under TIANTU CAPITAL’s consumer + technology strategy, Xellar Biosystems will not only be a company providing advanced in vitro models but also a core technology gateway for future drug discovery, clinical translation, and even product development in broader consumer markets.

Yi Capital founding partner Chong Liu said,We have long been focusing on the innovative path of "data quality + model capability" dual-driven in biotechnology. The core value of Xellar Biosystems lies in its ability to generate high-quality physiological data and deeply couple this data with AI models,打通从芯片到计算的整条链路。The addition of XtalPi will further enhance Xellar's competitiveness in automation and intelligent modeling. We highly anticipate that the synergy between both parties will soon translate into multiple commercial products and practical solutions.