September 15, 2021 -- Switzerland-based Lino Biotech is leveraging its patented label-free biosensor technology to measure molecular interactions in living cells and biological samples. The company is the lone international competitor in the inaugural BioTools Innovator program. We spoke with Mirko Stange, PhD, CEO of Lino Biotech, as part of our coverage of the competition.
The company was founded with the goal of making cell therapies more cost-effective and accessible to a broader patient population, Stange said. Lino Biotech's quality control methods offer cell therapy manufacturers strategies to improve their production and development process.
For the past seven years, Lino Biotech has been refining its proprietary focal molography technology and platform. Focal molography is a nanotechnology-based method that cleverly combines photolithography, molecular self-assembly, and optical technology. The company's patented sensor chip detects target molecules, resulting in a light signal that is then measured by the instrument's detector array.
The technology functions independently of nonspecific binding or environmental noise, like temperature changes, Stange said.
"We can measure molecular interactions in complex media directly from body fluids and bioreactor samples without the need to purify anything," Stange explained.
The technology can be deployed in the following three areas:
- Bioprocessing: Lino Biotech's technology and platform can provide an at-line determination of quality and relevant status information of process parameters.
- Drug screening: Scientists can obtain a real-time, label-free characterization of candidates in living cells.
- Diagnostics: Lino's technology can provide quantification of biomarkers.
Lino Biotech is one of 10 semifinalists that have the chance to win $200,000 in cash prizes in the BioTools Innovator accelerator contest, with the list of semifinalists released in late July. All semifinalists are assigned a mentor and will complete a curated curriculum designed to help them secure additional funding and elevate their companies. The field will be narrowed to four companies in early October. The four finalists will present at a live finale on October 14, 2021, where the audience will help decide the winner.
Stay tuned and follow along as we get a behind-the-scenes look at these companies as they race toward the finish!
Note: The BioTools Innovator accelerator contest is sponsored by Research Corporation Technologies and BroadOak Capital Partners, investors in ScienceBoard.net's parent company, Science and Medicine Group.
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