Biotech in Luxembourg: five companies that have made their name

One of the wealthiest countries in the world, Luxembourg is renowned for its gromperekichelcher (potato pancakes), fine wines, and medieval castles. An economic powerhouse in Europe, the country’s health tech sector is mainly focused on the manufacture of diagnostic and medical devices, while the biopharma industry, which accounts for a smaller percentage of the sector’s income, is gradually growing and diverse biotech companies in Luxembourg have sprouted up.

The launch of an incubator in the House of Bio Health – a collaboration between the Ministry of the Economy and private investors – a decade ago, has aimed to host spin-off and start up life science companies in the country, to enhance the sector’s growth. 

As the industry in Luxembourg expands, let us take a look at five biotechs that are flourishing in the field. 

Exobiosphere 

• Founded in 2024 
• Focus: cancer therapeutics and neurodegeneration 

What if you could run biological experiments from outer space? Well, that’s precisely what Luxembourg-based biotech company Exobiosphere was set up to do. The contract and research organization (CRO) plans on leveraging the effects of microgravity, where biological systems behave differently than here on Earth.  

With plans to take drug discovery into orbit, the startup – founded a year ago – secured €2 million ($2.2 million) in a seed funding round in April. In age-related diseases, the company wants to identify early aging molecular processes that are linked to neurodegeneration, and in space, the enhanced development of aging molecular patterns will help study these processes better.  

Microgravity also affects cancer cells; according to the company, these cells exhibit altered aggressiveness and drug resistance is higher in space. So, overcoming drug resistance will be a key part of running cancer therapeutics research and development (R&D) for Exobiosphere in space. 

Prior to launching into space, the company will adapt the assays and ensure that the tests are feasible, and then when in space, it will conduct the drug tests, after which it will analyze the results once back on earth. It will employ its ORBITAL High-throughput Screening (OHTS) platform to conduct research. The technology is involved in 3D disease modeling, stem cell automated differentiation, compound testing, experimental monitoring, and data transfer. 

The space biotech joined forces with Japanese space tech startup ElevationSpace to integrate their platforms – Exobiosphere’s OHTS and the latter’s satellite and return capsule technologies – to carry out high-frequency sample return from space. 

Mitotech 

• Founded in 2009 
• Focus: mitochondria-based therapies 

As the powerhouse of the cell, the mitochondria performs the cellular function of supplying energy. But over time, the process of converting fuel to energy results in the accumulation of reactive oxidative species (ROS). An overload of these ROS – which are free radicals – in cells, leads to oxidative stress. Mitotech aims to target the mitochondria to tackle neurodegenerative and metabolic disorders. 

Founded in 2009 in Luxembourg, the clinical-stage biotech company developed its initial lead compound SkQ1 for the treatment of dry eye disease – a condition where tears are unable to provide enough lubrication for the eyes. The active ingredient targets lipid peroxidation – a process that causes cellular damage – inside the eye to prevent tissue degeneration. The compound is designed to boost tear quality to facilitate lubrication. It was licensed to Hong Kong-based Essex Bio for further development in 2022. 

Back when SkQ1 was in the hands of Mitotech, it saw progress in clinical trials, after a phase 3 study conducted in the U.S. proved the candidate’s efficacy in reducing the symptoms of dry eye disease in participants. Moreover, the compound is also being evaluated in preclinical studies for the treatment of other eye diseases such as glaucoma, Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) – for which it was granted Orphan Drug designation by the FDA – dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and uveitis. 

Meanwhile, Mitotech’s focus has since expanded to metabolic diseases and neurodegenerative diseases. The company has created a small molecule to treat obesity and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), a type of chronic liver disease.  

The small molecule targets the root causes of metabolic dysfunction at the mitochondrial level by protecting organ tissue from cell death and inflammation. In MASH, it hinders a process known as ferroptosis from occurring, which is a kind of cell death dependent on iron and happens when too many molecules called lipid peroxides accumulate. Preclinical trials were promising, according to the company. 

Nium 

• Founded in 2019 
• Focus: gut microbiome 

A spin-off of Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine at the University of Luxembourg, Nium, a biotech company focused on gut health, offers services such as microbiome and nutrition clinical analyses harnessing the technology of bioinformatics, and conducts in vitro experiments to predict the impact of certain foods on the gut.                   

The company has developed gut-on-a-chip models that mimic interactions between microbes and the gut. The chip is fed to a stool sample, and after about 48 hours, the composition of the microbiome is examined. Nium works closely with food companies to assign probiotic scores to products, after which the companies decide whether they want to go ahead with the development of their products.     

The biotech company has also partnered with the Luxembourg Institute of Health to investigate how incorporating fibers in our diet affects specific gut bacteria. With this knowledge, the alliance aims to develop a platform to provide personalized dietary recommendations based on an individual’s unique metabolism.                 

Meanwhile, in collaboration with Arizona State University College of Health Solutions, AZ WearTech Center, and digital therapeutics company Aventyn in the U.S., the company is conducting a pilot nutrition support study for ambulatory cancer patients. Its artificial intelligence (AI)-powered wrist device provides tailored nutritional recommendations to ensure post cancer recovery, heart and kidney health.  

OrganoTherapeutics 

• Founded in 2019 
• Focus: development of mini-brains for drug target discovery 

In a bid to identify drug targets and develop candidates for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, OrganoTherapeutics has created human-specific mini-brains, which represents the pathology of the disease.  

With a goal to replace animal experiments in drug development as much as possible, the biotech’s midbrain organoids are generated from somatic cell samples that are obtained from healthy individuals and Parkinson’s patients, the latter showing dopaminergic neuron – nerve cells that release the neurotransmitter dopamine – impairment. 

As part of OrganoTherapeutics’ screening program, the company aims to identify novel active compounds. The company’s AI-based platform performs deep phenotyping – a comprehensive analysis of abnormalities in which the phenotypes are observed – to detect cellular aberrations. 

A study conducted by the company in 2021 revealed that clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) was able to correct point mutations in the cells taken from Parkinson’s patients. Following this, treatment with 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin improved the chances of autophagy – a process by which damaged cells are reused – of neurons as well as enhanced dopaminergic differentiation of patient-specific neurons in midbrain organoids.  

Established in 2019 in Luxembourg, the biotech company received an undisclosed amount of funding in a seed fundraising round two years ago. This was following funding it had bagged in 2020, with its investors being Canada-based Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) and U.S.-based startup accelerator MassChallenge. 

It also has an ongoing partnership with Canadian neurodegenerative disease research company StressMarq Biosciences to make headway in Parkinson’s disease research and specifically study alpha-synuclein pathology – a hallmark of the disease – in midbrain organoids. Similarly, it has signed deals with Juntendo and the Autonomous University of Barcelona to push R&D in Parkinson’s disease. 

Tolerogenics 

• Founded in 2016 
• Focus: allergies and autoimmune diseases 

Formed in 2016, Tolerogenics specializes in therapies for allergies and autoimmune diseases. The Luxembourg-based biotech has developed a tolerance-inducing allergen-specific immunotherapy that aims to reinstall the function of Tregs – regulatory T cells that can suppress an immune response in order to maintain self-tolerance. 

The company’s hydrogel ImmuneGel, which is to be injected subcutaneously, is designed to release active substances which then attract antigen presenting cells (APCs). Through the process of phagocytosis, wherein a cell engulfs a large particle, these cells take up peptide-loaded liposomes which are released by the hydrogel, thereby making them allergen-specific APCs. These modified APCs then interact with T cells to produce Treg cells, which, in turn suppress the harmful activity of effector Teff cells, balancing the immune system.  

In its pipeline, Tolerogenics has three recombinant protein products and two hydrogels that are allergen-derived T cell peptides. Currently, the allergies it intends to target are venom allergies caused by Hymenoptera insects – a large order of insects that include wasps, bees, and ants – house dust mite allergy and birch tree pollen allergy. 

The ImmuneGel technology is the brainchild of Tolerogenics and Luxembourg Institute of Health, for which both organizations share the patent. 

Life sciences in Luxembourg: small yet dynamic 

With an aim to foster public and private investments in the life sciences sector as well as boost innovation, the European Union made plans to further advance biotech R&D in the region, including Luxembourg last year. This includes incorporating AI in biotech and biomanufacturing, easing regulatory pathways, and speeding up biomanufacturing. In Luxembourg, biomanufacturing and contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) play a significant role in the biotech environment.  

Meanwhile, sustainable cosmetics company Luxbiotech has developed a series of skincare and nutritional products derived from microlgae, which thrive in marine ecosystems. Luxbiotech’s photobioreactors cultivate Aphanizomenon flos-aquae (AFA) – a species of cyanobacteria found in freshwater – which is a superfood, as it contains high amounts of chlorophyll which can bolster digestion. In addition, the biotech extracts phycocyanin – a blue photosynthetic pigment – from the algae Spirulina platensis. As the pigment has been found to reduce inflammation in the body, it is of great commercial value. 

With CDMOs as well as innovators like Luxbiotech in the sustainability space, and the aforementioned drug developers conducting R&D, it looks like Luxembourg’s life science industry is quite diverse, despite not being a large hub.