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A modular sponge for wound signalling

Immunosponge is built from microgels: hydrogel particles a fraction of a millimetre across. Packed together, they form a soft, porous material. Each one can be made to capture a molecule or to release one.

Why granular

A bulk hydrogel is one continuous block. Molecules have to diffuse a long way into it before they are captured or released. A granular hydrogel is made of many small, jammed microgels, so it has far more surface and much shorter diffusion distances.

In our 2024 study, granular hydrogels took up model biomolecules faster than comparable bulk hydrogels for exactly this reason. That speed matters in a wound, where cytokine levels change over hours and days.

Jammed microgels also flow under light pressure and hold their shape at rest. That lets the material pack into irregular wound beds while keeping open pores between particles.

Capture and release, set per microgel

Our microgels are made from natural polymers such as alginate and hyaluronic acid, both already used in wound care. We functionalise them with affinity ligands, such as aptamers (short DNA or RNA strands that bind one target tightly) or antibodies, or load them with proteins to release.

Close-up of the contact layer. Affinity ligands on the microgels (grey) catch inflammatory cytokines (red) from the wound bed, while loaded microgels release growth factor (green).
SignalWhat it does in a chronic woundMicrogel roleStatus
IL-6Pro-inflammatory cytokine, persistently raisedCaptureShown in vitro (2024)
Further cytokinesA panel of pro-inflammatory cytokines that keep the wound in its inflammatory phaseCaptureIn development
VEGF-AGrowth factor that drives new blood vessel formationReleaseShown in vitro (2024)

In 2024 we combined two kinds of microgel in a single material that captured IL-6 and released VEGF-A at the same time. Other regenerative factors are under evaluation.

Publications and IP

The founding team carried out this work at ETH Zurich. Immunosponge is developing it towards a product.

  • Paper, 2024
    Granular biomaterials as bioactive sponges for the sequestration and release of signaling molecules Emiroglu DB, Singh A, Marco-Dufort B, Speck N, Rivano PG, Oakey JS, Nakatsuka N, deMello AJ, Labouesse C, Tibbitt MW. Advanced Healthcare Materials 13(25), e2400800. doi:10.1002/adhm.202400800
  • Patent
    International patent application WO 2025/247844 PCT application covering the granular immunomodulatory hydrogel platform, priority EP24178520.3. View on WIPO Patentscope
  • Paper, 2022
    Building block properties govern granular hydrogel mechanics through contact deformations Emiroglu DB, Bekcic A, Dranseike D, Zhang X, Zambelli T, deMello AJ, Tibbitt MW. Science Advances 8(50), eadd8570. doi:10.1126/sciadv.add8570

Where we are

  1. Lab work at ETH Zurich on how microgel size and stiffness set the mechanics of granular hydrogels.

  2. Published the bioactive sponge concept: simultaneous IL-6 capture and VEGF-A release in vitro.

  3. PCT patent application published as WO 2025/247844.

  4. 2025–26

    Raised more than CHF 450,000 in non-dilutive funding, including the SNSF BRIDGE Proof of Concept, ETH Pioneer Fellowship, Novartis Foundation, Olga Mayenfisch Stiftung, Polypitch and Venture Kick.

  5. Signed our first letter of intent with an industry partner and joined the SPARK Zurich translational programme. Dressing prototypes in development.

  6. Next

    First in vivo studies of the dressing.