About 28bio
28bio makes human brain organoids, living tissue grown from human cells, and tests drug candidates on them. The goal is to measure human neural activity tied to clinical safety and efficacy. The CNS-3D line includes brain, inflammatory, myelinated, Alzheimer's and plasticity organoids. 28bio also offers PNS-3D services.
28bio is based in Metairie, Louisiana. Alif Saleh is chief executive officer, David Weiner is chief scientific officer, and Gregory Kading is chief financial officer. Thomas Hartung, who invented the Mini-Brain platform, is consulting vice president of scientific affairs. 28bio announced its Nexon platform on June 9, 2025. Pharma companies, including some of the world's largest, are building Nexon into their drug development work.
Funding Rounds (SEC Form D)
| First sale | Filed with SEC | Amount sold | Investors | Avg. check | Terms | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 21, 2025 | Jun 24, 2025amended Oct 29, 2026 | $8,524,945fully sold | 10 | $852K | EquityRule 506(b) | Form D/A ↗2 earlier filings |
| Nov 8, 2024 | Nov 22, 2024 | $3,684,771of $4.7M target | 21 | $175K | EquityRule 506(b) | Form D ↗ |
| Jun 2, 2020 | Jun 15, 2020amended Jun 10, 2021 | $6,056,462fully sold | 12 | $504K | EquityRule 506(b) | Form D/A ↗1 earlier filing |
| Feb 19, 2019 | Mar 5, 2019 | $1,133,000of $2.5M target | 13 | $87,154 | EquityRule 506(b) | Form D ↗ |
| Total, four offerings | $19,399,178 | |||||
First sale is the date the first investor in the offering committed to invest. Companies must file Form D within 15 days of that date, so filing dates run later.
Why Investors Backed 28bio
28bio sells tests built on living human brain tissue, for drug developers working on neurological drugs. 28bio's case is that human tissue predicts patient response better than animal models do. A retrospective study found its brain organoids predicted clinical seizure liability with 83% sensitivity and 89% specificity. Chief executive officer Alif Saleh leads the company, which is based in Metairie, Louisiana.
The problem it targets
In 28bio's view, neurology drugs have among the highest failure rates in pharma, because animal models translate poorly to humans. The mission page says scientists have relied on animal models to approximate the brain, an approach it calls deeply inadequate. Citing a 2018 paper by Walker and colleagues, a 28bio release puts CNS toxicity at about 25% of failures across drug discovery and development. The release adds that GLP toxicology studies rarely detect it.
What the product does
The Nexon platform brings together AI, neural interfacing and tissue engineering. 28bio uses it to engineer human brains at scale. Applications cover safety assessment, including CNS and PNS toxicity, and efficacy assessment, including neuroinflammation, Alzheimer's disease and myelination. 28bio launched CNS-3D Plasticity Organoids to test how drugs affect learning and memory before candidates reach the clinic. A separate CNS-3D Alzheimer's Model is built to help predict therapeutic efficacy.
Progress so far
The Endurance Study is retrospective and non-interventional. It checked seizure predictions against documented human clinical outcomes from 120,551 patients, with known positive controls. The organoids reached 83% sensitivity and 89% specificity, and the study found them 13 times more predictive than animal models. The results also beat earlier published data on 2D and 3D cell-based assays. 28bio announced it would present the data at the Society for Toxicology's 65th annual meeting in San Diego, March 22 to 25, 2026.
Who backs it
Chief executive officer Alif Saleh has raised more than $500 million to build life science and biotechnology technologies. He was previously chief executive officer of Scipher Medicine Corporation. David Weiner, MD, is chief scientific officer and co-chairman of the board. Thomas Hartung invented the Mini-Brain platform and chose 28bio to commercialize it.
How the market is moving
David Weiner, co-chairman of the board, says both the FDA and NIH have called for models that better reflect humans in safety assessment. He sees growing regulatory support for new approach methodologies. Saleh's view is that industry and regulators are pushing for faster, cheaper development of better neurology drugs.
We wrote this summary from public statements by 28bio and its investors. It is not investment advice.
28bio in the News
Leadership Team
Executive officers and directors listed on 28bio's Form D filed Oct 29, 2026.
Earlier filings also listed J. Lowry Curley (executive officer and director, last listed Nov 2024), Monica Metea (executive officer, last listed Jun 2021), Michael Moore (executive officer, last listed Jun 2021), Jeffrey Silverman (director, last listed Jun 2021), Benjamin Cappiello (executive officer, last listed Jun 2021) and Lowry Curley (president and director, last listed Mar 2019).
Sources
- SEC28bio, Inc. Form D/A, filed Jan 27, 2026
- SEC28bio, Inc. Form D, filed Jun 24, 2025
- SEC28bio, Inc. Form D, filed Jun 15, 2020
- SEC28bio, Inc. filing history
- Company28bio mission page
- Company28bio team page
- Company28bio contact page
- Press28bio's Endurance Study Meets Primary Endpoint (PR Newswire, March 23, 2026)
- Press28bio Announces Nexon Neurotechnology Platform (PR Newswire, June 9, 2025)