cellvie and CSEM Automate Mitochondrial Isolation to Enable Breakthrough Therapies

cellvie, a pioneer in harnessing the therapeutic potential of mitochondria, is developing a novel treatment for ischemia-reperfusion injuries – a condition affecting over 3 million patients annually in Europe and the U.S, in partnership with CSEM

Ischemia-reperfusion injuries occur when blood supply returns to tissue after being restricted, causing extensive damage. They are linked to heart attacks, strokes, organ transplants, and long surgical interventions.

Currently, there is no specific cure for these injuries. Existing treatments focus only on rapid intervention and supportive care. cellvie’s groundbreaking approach introduces therapeutic mitochondrial transplantation, where active mitochondria – the cell’s energy producers – are derived from human cells and delivered during or after reperfusion. This process revitalizes cellular metabolism, saving cells that would otherwise die.

To bring this innovation to the clinic, cellvie faced a major challenge: scaling the manufacturing process. The original isolation protocol, developed by cellvie co-founder Dr. McCully, required multiple manual, open-handling steps, making it difficult to standardize and incompatible with Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) conditions.

In collaboration with the Swiss technology innovation center CSEM and supported by an Innosuisse grant of over CHF 700,000, the teams redesigned the process. Together, they developed a closed, fully automated system for mitochondrial isolation in a single streamlined workflow.

“A robust and scalable system is essential to ensure the bioenergetic functionality and safety of mitochondria and to bring revolutionary therapies to clinics,”
said Charlotte Fonta, Senior R&D Engineer at CSEM.

This automation marks a significant milestone, enabling the production of mitochondria-based preparations in large quantities and at sustainable costs.

With the new process optimized and validated, the next step is to transfer production to an external partner to manufacture clinical and ultimately commercial supplies of cellvie’s therapy.

“Thanks to Innosuisse’s support and the tireless efforts of our teams, we now have a solid foundation to take this innovation to patients,”
said Dr. Alexander Schueller, CEO and founder of cellvie.

This collaboration brings us one step closer to a future where mitochondrial therapies can transform outcomes for millions of patients worldwide.

➡️ Source: CSEM | 📸 © CSEM – (L to R) Alexander. Schueller, CEO ; This Egloff, scientist(cellvie) ; Charlotte Fonta, Senior R&D Engineer ; Gilles Weder, Head R&BD, Life Science Technologies (CSEM).