CHERRY BIOTECH

Their core work

Cherry Biotech is a French SME that develops microfluidic organ-on-chip platforms and temperature-controlled cell culture systems for pharmaceutical and biomedical research. They provide the hardware infrastructure — chips, perfusion systems, and environmental control — that enables researchers to grow and study living tissues outside the body. Their technology serves as a shared tool across diverse biological applications, from brain and heart tissue models to gut microbiota and tumor studies, making them a recurring technology partner in EU training networks.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their early H2020 period (2016–2018), Cherry Biotech focused on foundational microfluidic and organ-on-chip technology — building collagen-based organ chips, brain chips, and contributing thermal management expertise (boiling, evaporation, wetting) alongside origins-of-life chemistry. From 2019 onward, their focus shifted decisively toward biological applications: reproductive biology (oocyte maturation, semen analysis), gut-brain-axis research, early life nutrition, and active matter physics. This evolution shows a company that matured from platform development into becoming an embedded technology provider across multiple life science domains.

Cherry Biotech is expanding from chip fabrication toward integrated biological measurement systems (TEER, imaging), positioning themselves as a full-service microphysiological systems provider.

How they like to work

Cherry Biotech operates as both a coordinator of focused technology projects (6 of 17) and a specialist partner embedded in large MSCA training networks. Their 113 unique partners across 29 countries indicate they do not work with the same groups repeatedly — instead, they plug into diverse consortia wherever organ-on-chip infrastructure is needed. This makes them easy to onboard: they are accustomed to adapting their platforms to new research questions and new teams.

With 113 unique consortium partners across 29 countries, Cherry Biotech has one of the broadest collaboration networks for an SME of its size — a direct result of participating in 8 MSCA training networks, which typically involve 10-15 partners each. Their reach is pan-European with no obvious geographic concentration.

What sets them apart

Cherry Biotech occupies a rare niche: they are an SME that builds the physical hardware for organ-on-chip experiments, not a university lab doing the biology. This makes them a natural consortium partner whenever a project needs microfluidic platforms but lacks in-house fabrication capacity. Their track record across brain, heart, gut, tumor, and reproductive tissue models shows unusual versatility — most organ-on-chip companies specialize in one organ system, while Cherry Biotech has demonstrated competence across at least five.

Highlights from their portfolio

• PORTable STaNDOuTs
  Their most recent coordinated project, integrating TEER measurement into perfused organ chips — signals their move from passive chip supply toward active sensing and measurement.
• Goc-MM
  Coordinated a gut microbiota-on-chip project connecting their microfluidic expertise to the high-growth gut-brain-axis research field.
• ActiveMatter
  Largest single EC contribution (€274,802) and an unusual crossover — applying their microfluidic capabilities to fundamental physics of active Brownian particles.