Bruker Invests in Organ-on-a-Chip Firm Mimetas

Editor’s Take: Bruker continues to expand its capabilities through investments and acquisitions. Earlier this year, the company acquired the DISQVER clinical metagenomics platform from Noscendo GmbH.

Bruker Corporation has made a majority investment in Mimetas B.V., a developer of organ-on-a-chip platforms and advanced human tissue and disease models for drug discovery and development. The investment expands Bruker’s post-genomic solutions for disease biology research, as well as for drug discovery and development into Microphysiological Systems (MPS), also referred to as New Approach Methodologies (NAMs).

Mimetas’ OrganoPlate platform combines a standard microtiter-plate format with membrane-free microfluidic tissue cultures, supporting imaging, automated handling and higher-throughput research and development workflows. Bruker plans to combine these capabilities with its technologies in proteomics, metabolomics, NMR, preclinical imaging and spatial biology.

“Human physiology-relevant tissue and disease models are becoming increasingly important for understanding disease biology and evaluating therapeutic candidates,” said Frank H. Laukien, President and CEO of Bruker Corporation. “The unique Mimetas organ-on-a-chip platforms complement Bruker’s capabilities in multiomics, spatial biology and preclinical imaging. We believe that humanized Microphysiological Systems, or NAMs, have a bright future, and will be increasingly adopted in drug discovery, development and preclinical testing.”

The Mimetas portfolio includes the OrganoPlate platform for organ-on-a-chip research, OrganoReady tissue and organoid products, supporting instruments and contract research services. The companies plan to develop integrated product and service workflows that connect these human model systems with Bruker technologies and services for molecular and cellular characterization.

“Joining Bruker creates opportunities to scale our platforms and make advanced human tissue models available to more researchers worldwide,” said Paul Vulto and Jos Joore, co-founders and co-CEOs of Mimetas. “By combining our OrganoPlate and OrganoReady solutions with Bruker’s molecular and cellular characterization technologies, we aim to offer more integrated workflows for disease research, compound evaluation and drug development.”

Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. Mimetas will continue to operate under its established brand and management.