#4 - Filtering the blood with nanoengineered beads - Lukas Langenegger - Hemotune

One consequence of the covid-19 crisis we are still going through is sepsis, a lethal misguided reaction of the immune system following an infection, currently responsible for 11 million deaths yearly on a global scale. Together with his team, Lukas Langenegger is addressing this life-threatening condition using a unique technology leveraging magnetic microscopic beads that enable the filtration of blood and the removal of toxic compounds circulating through the body during such a medical episode. The so-called Hemosystem is akin to a dialysis machine where the traditional membrane filter is replaced by a solution containing these beads. Offering a very large surface area, they are used to selectively trap key toxic compounds known to contribute to sepsis: their removal enables in fact to reestablish the immune balance of the patient, leading to drastically improved outcomes. This disruptive technology has been rewarded and praised multiple times in the Swiss medtech sphere and the media. Lukas himself has already been featured in the German issue of Forbes, as a recognition for the pioneering work and contribution that he and his team are bringing in the fight against this terrible condition. We exchanged with Lukas on his professional path, which started in the world of banking before moving towards chemical engineering and the start of a PhD, which he interrupted after a few months to embrace the entrepreneurial route. He guides us with passion through the genesis of Hemotune, the functioning of the system they have created and the surprising development perspectives that such a platform could allow, from the treatment of cancer up to the extension of our longevity! Timeline: (01:05) - Introduction to Lukas’ background and the origins of Hemotune (02:12) - Transitioning from banking to chemical engineering (04:59) - Quitting a PhD to become an entrepreneur (07:34) - Bringing multiple specialties together to found Hemotune (08:58) - Finding support from the Swiss ecosystem to kick start your own firm (09:49) - Hemotune’s technology and its first indication: sepsis (11:17) - Understanding the mechanisms of sepsis and the lack of current recovery treatment (14:20) - Timing of the intervention for patients using the Hemosystem (15:01) - Current standard of care and keeping patients suffering from sepsis alive (16:22) - Reestablishing the immune balance thanks to the Hemosystem (18:10) - Towards magnetic microscopic beads tailored to each patient (19:56) - The Hemosystem workflow and blood filtering cycles (20:57) - Engineering the magnetic microscopic beads (22:30) - Preventing toxicity from the beads towards the blood (26:00) - The development roadmap of the Hemosystem and its foreseen availability (30:18) - Moving towards other indications (e.g. cancer, autoimmune diseases, longevity) (32:02) - Establishing a new treatment modality at the interface of a drug and a medical device (33:15) - Addressing the burden of antimicrobial resistance What we also talked about with Lukas : Carlos Andrea Mora Corinne Hofer Precision Medicine ETHZ MIT Functional Materials Laboratory from Prof. Wendelin Stark HLA-DR Kurz Gesagt Immune: A Journey into the Mysterious System That Keeps You Alive Leo Grünstein Spiden If you want to know more about Hemotune, we invite you to consult their website: https://www.hemotune.ch/ We also invite you to follow their activities on LinkedIn or through their newsletter (subscription link available through the company website). You can contact Lukas through LinkedIn or by email: lukas.langenegger@hemotune.ch If you want to give me feedback on the episode, ask questions or suggest potential guests, feel free to do so through LinkedIn or by email: m.chaffard05@gmail.com