ALBUPAD, a new startup developing a material for more efficient drug delivery

A new startup has just been launched in Strasbourg, driven by SATT Conectus with the decisive support of Carnot MICA. A spin-off from two public research laboratories in Strasbourg (1) and incubated at SEMIA, ALBUPAD is developing a new innovative material based on albumin that is 100% natural, biocompatible, and biodegradable. It will provide patients suffering from chronic diseases or cancer with a new system for the progressive and controlled delivery of drugs over a period of several weeks. This breakthrough technology will help avoid daily intake, dosage errors, missed doses, and will reduce side effects.

ALBUPAD is developing a new implantable system designed to be placed inside the human body, capable of releasing a drug progressively, over a long period, and in a localized manner. Made exclusively from natural components such as albumin—a protein naturally produced by the body—this implant naturally degrades after slowly releasing the drug at the targeted site. Beyond its excellent biocompatibility, the ALBUPAD material can be loaded with all types of active molecules (small hydrophilic and hydrophobic molecules, peptides, or therapeutic proteins) and ensures a steady and prolonged release. It is also produced using a “green” manufacturing process that excludes organic solvents and toxic agents.

An innovative drug delivery system

The benefits are threefold:

• More effective treatments, as drug molecules are delivered continuously and steadily, ensuring better therapeutic coverage.
• Improved patient safety, with reduced risks of overdose, improper targeting, or missed doses.
• Significantly reduced side effects, thanks to the full biocompatibility and biodegradability of the implant, which releases no toxic degradation by-products in the body.

This new 100% natural and implantable “bioplastic” could eventually replace current solutions based on synthetic polymers, which are often less well tolerated by the body.

Diseases requiring repeated treatments—such as cancers, chronic conditions, and even acute diseases (e.g., infections)—are among the primary application areas.

ALBUPAD is based on the research work of Eya Aloui, PharmD and PhD in Materials Chemistry, supervised by Dr. Philippe Lavalle (Biomaterials and Bioengineering Laboratory, Inserm – University of Strasbourg) and Dr. Benoît Frisch (3Bio team, CAMB Laboratory, CNRS – University of Strasbourg).

Winner of the innovation competitions Mature your PhD (2020) and i-PhD (2021), Eya Aloui, CEO and co-founder of ALBUPAD alongside Dr. Jordan Beurton, highlights the major potential:

“Antitumor drugs are usually administered intravenously, generating many side effects for limited results. Thanks to ALBUPAD’s breakthrough technology, based on a green approach—this new bioplastic is 100% biodegradable and biocompatible—we can load an antitumor molecule into a small implant placed directly within the tumor. It then releases the drug uniformly and continuously, maximizing tumor exposure while avoiding toxic degradation products in the rest of the body. We believe albumin is the ideal candidate for developing innovative therapies and health materials. This discovery also opens the way for ‘smart’ implants capable of targeting tumors.”

ALBUPAD: an exemplary success story

The ALBUPAD project, the result of six years of R&D, has benefited from several key supports:

• SATT Conectus (Strasbourg) invested over €600k to bring this innovation from the lab to the market. This support enabled patent protection (European patent filed in 2019), scientific validation, pre-industrial scaling, market analysis, identification of industrial partners, and the structuring of the startup project, including training Eya Aloui in business aspects.
• Carnot MICA (Mulhouse) supported the project from the outset, investing €50k in the exploratory phase. Its director stated that this funding helped develop new albumin-based biomaterials and de-risk the project, enabling further development phases.

The project also received funding from La Ligue contre le cancer (€53k) and Alsace contre le Cancer (€15k).

Serving oncology—and beyond

ALBUPAD is currently incubated at SEMIA / Quest for Health in Strasbourg. It is supported by Bpifrance (French Tech grant – €30k) and the Grand Est Region (€30k). Seed funding rounds are planned to support upcoming R&D phases (product characterization and industrialization).

With its five co-founders, ALBUPAD’s next key steps include validating the industrialization of its manufacturing process and completing in vivo studies on drug delivery and efficacy. These milestones, planned for 2024, aim to attract industrial investors. Clinical trials are envisioned by 2030 in partnership with a pharmaceutical company.

The stakes are high: the market for sustained drug delivery formulations, estimated at $15 billion in 2022, includes localized delivery systems enabling both local and systemic release. Major pharmaceutical players include Takeda, Novartis, Merck, Pfizer, Teva, GSK, and AstraZeneca.

Beyond healthcare, protein-based biomaterials could also impact other sectors such as veterinary products, cosmetics, nutraceuticals, and the replacement of synthetic plastics in everyday applications.

(1) Biomaterials and Bioengineering Laboratory (Inserm – University of Strasbourg) + 3Bio Team, CAMB Laboratory (CNRS – University of Strasbourg).

Photo credits: Albupad