Human-first CNS drug discovery

A human foundation for CNS drug development.

We extract multimodal signatures from neuro-immune brain organoids, align them to large-scale human datasets, and build AI models that help partners prioritize which compounds are most likely to translate — before the clinic.

Request a briefing See how it works

Neuro-immune organoids Multimodal signatures Human-anchored AI

AI segmentation and single-cell microglia tracking in a living human brain organoid.

The problem

CNS drugs fail because preclinical biology does not translate.

CNS programs have among the highest failure rates in medicine, largely because preclinical models don't capture human neuro-immune biology. We're building a system that generates human-relevant disease signatures and tests them against real patient data — before the clinic.

>90%
Estimated clinical failure rate for CNS drug candidates
~$2B
Estimated cost to bring a CNS drug to market
10–15 yrs
Typical development timeline before patient access

How it works

Organoids, data, and AI in one compounding loop.

OptoBiologics pairs patient-derived neuro-immune brain organoids with multimodal data and AI. Each stage feeds the next, surfacing targets and biomarkers grounded in human biology and helping partners prioritize compounds earlier — and every dataset added is designed to make the model more predictive over time.

  1. Neuro-immune brain organoids

    We generate patient-derived brain organoids that model the neuro-immune interactions driving CNS disease — biology that animal models capture poorly.

  2. Automating multimodal disease signatures

    We automate wet-lab and data-analytics workflows to extract deep readouts across transcriptomics, proteomics, and functional phenotypes — building rich, disease-specific biological signatures.

  3. Human dataset alignment

    Our AI maps organoid signatures onto large-scale human datasets, anchoring the models in real patient biology from the start.

  4. A compounding biology platform

    Internal programs build the core data asset. Structured partnerships add asset-independent biological insights.

Built to compound. Every internal program adds to a growing map of human CNS biology — helping the platform learn which disease signatures and drug responses are most likely to translate.

Early proof of concept

From living organoids to quantitative human biology.

A first look at the platform in action — from structure to function: we visualize human neuro-immune interactions in brain organoids, track single-cell microglia dynamics with deep learning, and read out neuronal activity through calcium imaging.

Human immune system GFP-labeled microglia integrating into a human brain organoid (time-lapse).
AI analytics Automated organoid boundary detection with single-cell microglia identification and tracking.
Human neuronal activity Spontaneous neuronal calcium activity in a human organoid (left), with automated deep learning segmentation and ΔF/F traces (right) — a functional readout of organoid activity.

These are preliminary, internal proof-of-concept results from early bootstrapped experiments. Scientific publications will be added as the work matures.

Team & advisors

Neuroscience, AI, and translational thinking.

We bring together neuroscience, AI, and translational biology to build a human-first platform grounded in rigorous science and designed for clinical relevance.

  • Portrait of Renaud Schuck, PhD

    Renaud Schuck, PhD

    Co-Founder & CEO — Neuroscience & AI

  • Portrait of Jariel Bytheway, MBA

    Jariel Bytheway, MBA

    Co-Founder & CBO — Strategy & Operations

  • Portrait of Christopher Lovejoy

    Christopher Lovejoy

    Scientific Advisor — Organoid Biology

Get in touch

Let's explore what the platform can do for your pipeline.

Interested in the platform or a potential partnership? Tell us a little about what you're working on and we'll be in touch.

Prefer email? contact@optobiologics.com