Catarina Custódio

Metatissue was founded in 2018 by bringing together expertise from the COMPASS Research Group from CICECO, University of Aveiro. Located at PCI · Creative Science Park Aveiro Region, with fully equipped facilities for the successful development of R&D projects and cutting-edge products. Metatissue is focused on the design, production and commercialization of chemically modified human-derived proteins to prepare hydrogels, sponges and bioinks to improve 3D cell culture, disease modelling for drug development and personalized medicine advancements. Their solutions were conceived to create predictive and truly translatable 3D biological in vitro models. The drug development process is one of the biggest challenges that the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries currently face. The timeline of this process is highly resource-consuming, as it takes thousands of compounds screened to yield a single approved drug at the end of 10-15 years. This pipeline involves billions of dollars, much of them wasted, especially during clinical trials that eventually fail, making it imperative to find a solution that reduces these costs and development time. One of the reasons for this inefficiency is the fact that, during preclinical trials, drugs that are envisioned for humans are tested in models that have either synthetic or animal sources, which demonstrate low accuracy and human environment resemblance to the tests performed in vitro, therefore resulting in poor in vivo drug reproducibility translation. Metatissue’ technology – human-protein derived biomaterials, produced from platelets and placenta, that can be photocrosslinked to create platforms like hydrogels, sponges and bioinks - has a clear value proposition to offer, which is a xenogeneic-free alternative platform to current commercially available products, with tunable mechanical properties, that allow the replication of different tissues and organs. This technology is currently patented at the European and USA level. Our innovative products are strategically positioned to make its initial debut in academia and among researchers due to their inherent openness to adopting novel solutions. This initial phase of commercialization serves not only as a practical entry point but also as a means of validation across diverse applications, amplifying our market presence through published research papers. As our product gains further validation and recognition within the scientific community, our focus will shift towards penetrating the CROs (Contract Research Organizations) and pharmaceutical industries. These sectors, known for their substantial financial investments, present a lucrative opportunity for growth and widespread adoption. To effectively capture the 3D cell culture market, our platforms will be made available for purchase through direct sales on the Metatissue website. Additionally, strategic partnerships with scientific consumables distributors will be established to ensure comprehensive coverage of the European and North American markets. This dual approach aims to facilitate accessibility and reach a broader audience within the scientific and research communities. Throughout these years, Metatissue has maintained a strong focus on product development and validation, made possible through the funding received from Horizon projects. To date, we have secured over €2 million in R&D funding. Looking ahead, our strategic roadmap involves pursuing an additional €2.5 million in funding to propel this cutting-edge technology into the market. This financial support will enable us to expand our commercial team and continue the development and validation efforts for both our existing and upcoming product offerings.