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Partners and Collaborations

 Collaboration is central to how we advance cell manufacturing. Scinus participates in national and European research projects with academic, clinical and industry partners, translating emerging science into controlled, scalable and commercially relevant bioprocesses.

These collaborations help us continuously improve our Osilaris bioreactor platform, integrate new monitoring and automation technologies, and expand its applications across the ATMP field, from immune cells and iPSCs to organoids and other advanced cell types.

Most recently, we concluded in June 2026 the LIBRA project. The knowledge gained through these collaborations, together with our ongoing grant portfolio, continues to strengthen our technology and process-development expertise.


NXTGEN HIGHTECH

Cell culture plays a central role in the development of next-generation technologies,  ranging from life-saving cell and gene therapies to producing vaccines, replacing animal models, and discovering new drugs. Meeting the growing demand for high-quality cells requires more automated and precisely controlled bioreactor technology.

From 2023 to 2030, Scinus leads the NXTGEN Hightech Biomed05 project, aiming to revolutionize cell manufacturing by developing next-generation bioreactor technologies that deliver advanced automation and unparalleled process control. This will ensure the production of high-quality cells at the scale needed to meet global demands.  Thanks to this project and the collaboration with the Biomed05 partners, Scinus is able to focus on further automation of the system, integrate innovative sensors for advanced process control, and further refine iPSC expansion processes.

Want to learn more about the project, please check out our project manager and scientist Wouter, that explains more about the project in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcBSryPg5cI 

This project receives a Groeifonds contribution from the NXTGEN HIGHTECH program

Excellent - SNN

With funding from the Just Transition Fund, “Excellent” is a project for large knowledge and valorisation projects funded by SNN (www.snn.nl).

Within this collaborative project, Scinus teams up with University Hospital Groningen and Demcon to work towards an expertise hub to position the North-East of the Netherlands as a leading region within Europe for cell therapy technology and treatment. The project aims to solve a critical supply chain issue for cell therapies, by establishing a central hub for point-of-care treatment with these innovative therapies. Specifically, Scinus will contribute automation knowledge and development for two major cell therapy applications: Chimeric Antigen-Receptor T Cell (CAR-T) therapy and Tumour Infiltrating Lymphocyte (TIL) therapy.

Via strengthening regional manufacturing capacity, we want to make advanced cell therapies more accessible, affordable and sustainable.

 


RHYTHMS

Producing high-quality cells consistently across different manufacturing sites remains challenging. Running from 2025 to 2028, RHYTHMS is a project coordinated by Scinus to develop a process-control toolkit for decentralized cell manufacturing.

Together with MyCellHub, Stemmatters and Skåne University Hospital, Scinus combines real-time nutrient monitoring, decentralized software control and robust 3D iPSC expansion protocols.

By validating the toolkit in CDMO and hospital settings, RHYTHMS aims to enable consistent, GMP-ready cell production closer to patients while reducing costs and environmental impact.

Eurostars is part of the European Partnership on Innovative SMEs. This partnership is co-funded by the European Union through Horizon Europe.

TENTACLE

Colorectal diseases affect over 2 million people in the EU. Treatment can require removal of parts of the colon and rectum. While this can help to relieve symptoms, patients often face serious complications. Running from 2025 to 2028, TENTACLE is an EU-funded Horizon Europe project developing a colonoscopic 4D bioprinter that combines patient-derived cells with shape-changing biomaterials to regenerate colorectal tissue.

Scinus plays a key role in the project by upscaling the production of fibroblasts and intestinal organoids. The Osilaris functions as an ideal platform, allowing seeding of small numbers of cells from a patient's biopsy and high-fold expansion towards clinically relevant numbers.  These cells will form part of the bio-inks used by the printer.

The ten-partner consortium is coordinated by University Hospital Würzburg and includes universities and technology partners from Belgium, Italy, Austria, Türkiye and the Netherlands.

To find out more, please visit the project website: https://www.tentacle-project.eu/

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HADEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

 

ENGAGE CAR-NK

Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) Natural Killer (NK) cell therapy could be the next breakthrough in cancer treatment due to their distinct advantages in manufacturing and scalability compared to CAR-T. However, scaling up CAR-NK production for clinical manufacturing remains challenging. Running from May 2025 to April 2027, ENGAGE CAR-NK is a MIT R&D project led by Scinus in collaboration with Glycostem aiming to tackle this challenge.

The project combines Scinus’ bioreactor and process-development expertise with Glycostem’s NK-cell manufacturing platform. Together, we are developing new processes for efficient engineering and expansion of CAR-NK cells  one closed Osilaris bioreactor. Its controlled culture volume, gradual medium exchange and low-shear environment together make an optimal platform to advance off-the-shelf CAR-NK products towards clinical stage.

 

FIT

Muscle diseases, from rare genetic disorders to age, and cancer-related muscle loss, can severely reduce strength and independence, yet many still have no effective treatment. Running from October 2025 to September 2028, FIT is an Interreg Meuse-Rhine project, co-funded by the EU, aiming to valorise muscle stem cell technologies to effective and affordable muscle stem-cell therapies.

Within this project, Scinus is translating the current labour-intensive flask-based cultivation, into a closed, automated and GMP-ready microcarrier process using the Osilaris bioreactor. This way, the production of mesoangioblasts and muscle-derived mesenchymal stem cells can be upscaled while maintaining cell quality and reducing manual handling and contamination risks.

Led by Maastricht University, the project is a collaboration between academia and industry, bringing together ten-partners to combine scalable cell production with cell engineering, patient-derived 3D muscle models and clinical trials. FIT builds on a first-in-human study in which autologous mesoangioblast administration was safe and well tolerated, helping move muscle stem-cell therapies closer to patients.

FIT is co-funded by the European Union through the Interreg Meuse-Rhine (NL-BE-DE) programme.

 

Beacon

Damaged bile ducts are a major cause of complications following liver transplantation, particularly when lower-quality donor organs are used. Running from 2025 to 2028, BEACON is a collaboration between Scinus and the group of Dr. Monique Verstegen from Erasmus MC and explores how cholangiocyte organoids can repair donor livers during machine perfusion.

 To repair a whole human liver, millions of cells are needed. Manufacturing is labour-intensive, expensive, and requires lots of disposable plastics, pressurizing the environments. Scinus is advancing organoid cultivation by growing cholangiocyte organoids from small liver and bile duct biopsies in their closed, controlled Osilaris system. By combining these organoids with state-of-the-art machine perfusion, groundbreaking new means for repairing and assessing donor livers can be achieved.  =

In our recent peer-reviewed study involving Scinus and Erasmus MC we demonstrated the expansion of more than 500 million viable liver-organoid cells in a single bioreactor run. BEACON builds on this potential to advance organoid therapies towards clinical use while extending Scinus’s platform into regenerative medicine.

The collaboration project is financed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs by means of the PPP Allowance made available by the Top Sector Life Sciences & Health to stimulate public-private partnerships.

Addbone

Large bone defects caused by trauma or cancer are difficult to repair. The current treatment, transplanting a patient’s own bone, requires additional surgery and is not always successful. Running from 2023 to 2027,

This project is funded by a TKI grant from Health Holland

Project number: EMCLSH23011

Scinus, Erasmus MC and IamFluidics combine clinically compatible cell culture, closed bioreactor processing and implantable biodegradable microcarriers to expand pediatric mesenchymal stromal cells and prime them to form new bone tissue.  

Nanokid

Kidney failure leaves millions of people dependent on dialysis, a burdensome treatment that cannot reproduce all kidney functions. Starting in 2026, NanoKid is a five-year,  NWO-NXTGEN Hightech project, developing a modular kidney-on-a-chip as a foundation for improved kidney replacement therapies.

Scinus supports the Nanokid project by supporting scalable and reliable cell production of a renal cell line using the Osilaris platform.

InnoCAR-T

We have recently concluded our participation in InnoCAR-T, a Horizon Europe–funded Marie Skłodowska-Curie doctoral network advancing next-generation CAR-T therapies.

Bringing together academic and industry partners from the Netherlands, Spain and Belgium, the project combined innovative bioreactor technology, gene editing and nanotechnology-based drug delivery.

Scinus was proud to support one of the programme’s 10 PhD candidates and contribute to the development of future CAR-T manufacturing technologies.