Smart, AI-powered “microfactory” designed to create personalized cancer treatments
Context and challenges
Cancer remains a leading cause of mortality globally, with an economic burden projected to exceed USD 518.25 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 11.3%. Traditional oncology drug development is slow, costly, and ethically constrained by reliance on animal models that often fail to predict human responses. Current preclinical platforms lack standardization, scalability, and patient-specific relevance, leading to high clinical trial failure rates. Scientifically, tumor heterogeneity and adaptive resistance mechanisms require continuously adaptable and personalized models.
Socially, unequal access to precision therapies exacerbates disparities in healthcare outcomes5,6. Environmentally, standard laboratory processes consume substantial resources and generate considerable waste. Economically, ineffective or toxic therapies drive up treatment costs and negatively impact patients’ quality of life.
Objectives
We are developing a smart, AI-powered “microfactory” designed to create personalized cancer treatments. Using tumour-specific inputs—such as patient data and tissue—the ORION microfactory will autonomously produce tumour models by continuously adjusting their cellular composition and microenvironment to closely mirror well-characterized tumour samples from patients.
Model optimization will be driven by a combination of closed-loop feedback from integrated sensors and discrete measurements, such as sequencing. The most accurate models will be validated using past treatment data, then expanded and tested against selected therapeutic agents. To ensure safety, we will assess potential toxic effects on organ models including liver, lung, and kidney.
ORION will support drug discovery and help identify effective therapies for clinical trials. In the long term, it could guide personalized treatments in clinical settings and enable the creation of digital tumour twins to simulate treatment responses. This project has the potential to revolutionize cancer research and treatment by making precision medicine more adaptive, scalable, and data-driven.
Partners and funding
Research partners
NEXUS Personalized Health
University of Bern
University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland FHNW
CSEM
Switzerland Innovation Park Biel/Bienne Ltd.
Implementation partners
Insel Gruppe | AlveoliX | Moonlight AI | Spitalzentrum Biel | Kugelmeiers Ltd. | Scailyte | OnconiX AG | Hirslanden |
IAR Group | ai4bio | iCure | AsedaSciences | Visienco AG | InVirtuoLabs |
IMA AUTOMATION | PRECIFLEX | Siemens | QAI Ventures
Funded by Innosuisse – Swiss Innovation Agency
