Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Sarcura (Cell Factory on chips: make Cell Therapies affordable and accessible to all patients)
Período documentado: 2023-06-01 hasta 2024-05-31
Cell therapy has revolutionized cancer treatment, but manufacturing patient-derived cell therapies remains a significant challenge for the industry. Quality and scalability issues lead to high therapeutic costs of €450,000, limiting access to life-saving treatments. Currently, only 3% of eligible patients receive CAR-T therapy.
Sarcura, a deep-tech startup based in Vienna, is creating new possibilities in cell therapy manufacturing. By utilizing silicon chip technology, Sarcura aims to develop a miniaturized and autonomous cell therapy manufacturing platform. This innovation is expected to increase manufacturing capacity by 100 times and reduce costs by tenfold.
Our initial focus (minimum viable product) will include all necessary processing steps to fully automate the typical starting material of a clinical cell therapy (patient-derived enriched blood cells—Leukopak) through isolation, transfection, and fill/finish. The system will also provide integrated process analytics and quality control, such as cell count, viability, and phenotype characterization. Additional functional modules will be integrated step-by-step into the cartridge to process or analyse the product or control the process quality.
Ultimately, we aim to cover the full manufacturing process and market an autonomous, self-optimizing manufacturing system based on real-time optimization via AI-driven predictive process control.
Our product offerings will include (a) desktop instruments, (b) single-use microfluidic cartridges, and (c) software and algorithms.
Sarcura, a deep-tech startup based in Vienna, is creating new possibilities in cell therapy manufacturing. By utilizing silicon chip technology, Sarcura aims to develop a miniaturized and autonomous cell therapy manufacturing platform. This innovation is expected to increase manufacturing capacity by 100 times and reduce costs by tenfold.
Our initial focus (minimum viable product) will include all necessary processing steps to fully automate the typical starting material of a clinical cell therapy (patient-derived enriched blood cells—Leukopak) through isolation, transfection, and fill/finish. The system will also provide integrated process analytics and quality control, such as cell count, viability, and phenotype characterization. Additional functional modules will be integrated step-by-step into the cartridge to process or analyse the product or control the process quality.
Ultimately, we aim to cover the full manufacturing process and market an autonomous, self-optimizing manufacturing system based on real-time optimization via AI-driven predictive process control.
Our product offerings will include (a) desktop instruments, (b) single-use microfluidic cartridges, and (c) software and algorithms.
The aim of this project focused on non-technical aspects to prepare for a successful Series A round. This includes developing a communication strategy for each stakeholder group and finalizing Sarcura’s IP strategy.
Due to internal personnel changes, specifically the departure of a co-founder and the onboarding of a new, experienced CTO to take over his responsibilities, we started the planned activities only end of Q3/ 2023.
Communication strategy:
To build a successful communication strategy, we decided after initial assessments to collaborate with an experienced brand strategy company. This company helped us define the strategy for various stakeholder groups, develop the brand communication building blocks with several specialists in the consultant’s network, and then hire a full-time employee to execute and consistently deliver on the communication strategy.
Under the guidance of the brand strategy consulting firm, we conducted several workshops with investors, lead users, and advisors to map the stakeholder groups we aim to address. We developed the typical “stakeholder journeys” for each of these groups and created a roadmap of multiple initiatives (short-term and mid-term) to address each group. This includes a new visual and verbal identity, a reframing and simplification of our complex technical journey, and PR activities.
This effort resulted in a new pitch deck and several fundraising-relevant documents, along with a refreshed visual identity for social media communication. The website relaunch and several other larger initiatives are currently ongoing and are expected to be finalized by Q1 2025, depending on the progress of our latest fundraising round and the available budgets. We also defined the profile for a new internal dedication position, which is currently hired via an external agency.
IP strategy:
We initially worked with a local general IP lawyer who, despite being experienced in patent applications, was unable to provide the strategic guidance we needed. We began preparing a patent for filing but halted the work due to the lack of a strategic approach.
After several attempts, we identified a German IP firm with experience in working with deep-tech startups and an understanding of our strategic approach. We conducted several workshops and developed a comprehensive understanding of the opportunities, pros, and cons of different approaches. We successfully implemented an internal process to raise awareness within the technical team for generating patent ideas and established procedures and documents to efficiently assess the potential of these ideas. This allowed us to gather all necessary information to provide to the patent lawyers for drafting applications in an effective way.
A working routine was established between Sarcura’s IP manager and the IP firm's primary contact, leading to a continuous increase in knowledge at Sarcura and the preparation of two patent applications ready for submission and a third in preparation. However, we are currently facing a delay in filing the patents due to requested changes in the development cooperation agreement (and the ownership of the results) with our strategic technology partner to ensure no conflicts arise with these patent applications.
Due to internal personnel changes, specifically the departure of a co-founder and the onboarding of a new, experienced CTO to take over his responsibilities, we started the planned activities only end of Q3/ 2023.
Communication strategy:
To build a successful communication strategy, we decided after initial assessments to collaborate with an experienced brand strategy company. This company helped us define the strategy for various stakeholder groups, develop the brand communication building blocks with several specialists in the consultant’s network, and then hire a full-time employee to execute and consistently deliver on the communication strategy.
Under the guidance of the brand strategy consulting firm, we conducted several workshops with investors, lead users, and advisors to map the stakeholder groups we aim to address. We developed the typical “stakeholder journeys” for each of these groups and created a roadmap of multiple initiatives (short-term and mid-term) to address each group. This includes a new visual and verbal identity, a reframing and simplification of our complex technical journey, and PR activities.
This effort resulted in a new pitch deck and several fundraising-relevant documents, along with a refreshed visual identity for social media communication. The website relaunch and several other larger initiatives are currently ongoing and are expected to be finalized by Q1 2025, depending on the progress of our latest fundraising round and the available budgets. We also defined the profile for a new internal dedication position, which is currently hired via an external agency.
IP strategy:
We initially worked with a local general IP lawyer who, despite being experienced in patent applications, was unable to provide the strategic guidance we needed. We began preparing a patent for filing but halted the work due to the lack of a strategic approach.
After several attempts, we identified a German IP firm with experience in working with deep-tech startups and an understanding of our strategic approach. We conducted several workshops and developed a comprehensive understanding of the opportunities, pros, and cons of different approaches. We successfully implemented an internal process to raise awareness within the technical team for generating patent ideas and established procedures and documents to efficiently assess the potential of these ideas. This allowed us to gather all necessary information to provide to the patent lawyers for drafting applications in an effective way.
A working routine was established between Sarcura’s IP manager and the IP firm's primary contact, leading to a continuous increase in knowledge at Sarcura and the preparation of two patent applications ready for submission and a third in preparation. However, we are currently facing a delay in filing the patents due to requested changes in the development cooperation agreement (and the ownership of the results) with our strategic technology partner to ensure no conflicts arise with these patent applications.