Exobiosphere and MaxWell Biosystems partner to bring high-content electrophysiology to space

Exobiosphere, the space biotechnology company advancing drug discovery and biomedical research in microgravity, and MaxWell Biosystems AG, a global technology leader developing high-density microelectrode array (HD-MEA) technology, today announced an exclusivity agreement covering the use of MaxWell Biosystems’ technology for commercial high-throughput space applications.

Under the agreement, Exobiosphere and MaxWell Biosystems have entered into an exclusive partnership for the use of MaxWell Biosystems’ HD-MEA technology for high-throughput electrophysiological recording and screening in microgravity, including its integration into Exobiosphere’s Orbital High-Throughput Screener (OHTS).

The integration will enable researchers to directly measure the function of electrically active cells, including neurons and cardiac cells, during microgravity exposure, adding a new layer of functional data to automated drug screening in orbit.

Measuring function, not only structure

Studying cells in microgravity can reveal changes that cannot be observed under conventional laboratory conditions. Until now, many experiments in orbit have focused on observing changes in cell structure or state, with some functional information inferred through imaging or measurements performed after samples return to Earth.

MaxWell Biosystems’ HD-MEA technology provides a different approach: it enables direct, non-invasive and label-free measurement of cellular electrical activity.

“Electrophysiology tells us what a neuron or a cardiomyocyte is actually doing while it is in orbit. That is what makes the data worth flying for.”

Dr. Bruno Santos, Director of R&D and co-founder, Exobiosphere

When integrated into OHTS, the technology will allow Exobiosphere and its partners to capture functional measurements from neuronal and cardiac models while they are exposed to microgravity. These measurements can include network activity, signal propagation, action potential characteristics and arrhythmia-like events, providing insight into how cells respond to compounds under spaceflight conditions.

MaxWell Biosystems’ MaxTwo is a multi-well HD-MEA platform for scalable, label-free recording and stimulation. Each well features 26,400 electrodes at a density of 3,265 electrodes per square millimetre. Exobiosphere will qualify the system for flight and integrate it into OHTS, which combines automated cell culture, compound dosing and data capture without crew intervention.

“This collaboration now creates the opportunity to bring high-content electrophysiology directly into the spaceflight workflow, at high resolution and at scale.”

Giulio Zorzi, Head of EMEA, MaxWell Biosystems

Together, Exobiosphere and MaxWell Biosystems are taking space-based drug discovery a step further, combining advanced high-content electrophysiology with automated biological research to unlock new ways of studying disease and drug response in orbit.