Delivering compounds into the cytoplasm of cells in vitro or ex vivo is a common requirement in biotechnological and biomedical applications. Examples include the intracellular delivery of nucleic acids for the creation of genetically modified cell lines, or pharmaceutical compounds like proteins and peptides for drug screening or the production of therapeutic cells. Regardless of the application, the common challenge is to overcome the plasma membrane, which represents a major barrier for most macromolecules. Laser-induced photoporation, developed in the promoter’s group, is a new intracellular delivery technology which combines lasers and nanotechnology to efficiently and safely deliver a broad variety of compounds in living cells. Compared to existing delivery technologies it offers superior throughput, cell viability, flexibility in terms of types of compounds and cells, combined with reduced hands-on time and the unique possibility to perform single cell transfections.
The overall aim of the INTRACYTE project was to prepare for the establishment of a spin-off company that will bring photoporation to the market as a next-generation intracellular delivery technology. First of all, different types of photothermal nanoparticles were produced and evaluated in terms of their performance for photoporation of cells. Based on a large comparative data set, a selection of the most suitable nanoparticles was made which will be brought to the market as consumables along with the photoporation instrument. Second, aimed at reducing the cost of goods of the photoporation instrument, a low-cost optical design was built and evaluated. It was found that this low-cost design offers equal performance in terms of delivery efficiency and cell viability as earlier designs which were more complex and costly. This simplified optical design will be the basis of the final commercial instrument. Third, the photoporation technology was further evaluated independently by third parties (academic and private), confirming its potential, but also revealing some limitations that need to be addressed further. Fourth, the cell therapy market was studied to identify potential future customers. Finally, an attractive pitch was prepared, and the business and financial plans were finetuned. A senior serial entrepreneur was also attracted willing to take the lead in the future spin-off company. With these elements in place, the technology was presented to financial investors with the aim to raise sufficient capital to establish the spin-off company and bring the photoporation technology to the market.
Thanks to the significant progress that could be made in the INTRACYTE project, both on the technical and business side, a syndicate of financial investors (2 venture capital firms and 2 private investors) was identified willing to invest in the spin-off company. With a team of 6 FTEs, the newco named Trince was finally established in December 2021. The company’s aim is to bring the photoporation technology to the R&D market by Q2 2023 and to the cell therapy market by 2025, by which time the company is expected to employ 25-30 FTEs. Taken together, it can be concluded that the INTRACYTE project was successfully carried out, reaching the final aim of setting up a spin-off company to bring the photoporation technology to the market.
