FOx Biosystems, founded in 2016 in Diepenbeek, Belgium, made White FOx, a fibre-optic surface plasmon resonance instrument that measures how biological molecules bind without labels. Its EIC project, EV FOx, aimed to turn it into a tool for isolating and counting extracellular vesicles (EVs), tiny particles released by cells that researchers study for diagnostics and therapies. The company claimed its method was "selective (no bias), automated (scalable 4x), faster (time/24) and specific (purity >95%)", according to CORDIS.
The European Innovation Council agreed to pay €2,499,999 towards a €3.59 million project from July 2023 to June 2025. On 23 January 2025 the court in Antwerp declared FOx Biosystems bankrupt, according to FaillissementsDossier. CORDIS records that the project was "terminated on 26 February 2025", four months before its planned end. The company's last filed accounts, for 2023, show a loss of €2.79 million, according to Companyweb. Its old web domain now hosts an unrelated legal services site.
Company file
- Legal entity
- FOx Biosystems NV, BE0653744366, Diepenbeek
- Founded
- 2016
- Product
- White FOx fibre-optic SPR instrument and sensor probes
- Staff
- 13.8 full-time equivalents (2023)
- EIC project
- EV FOx, 1 Jul 2023 to 26 Feb 2025, terminated
- EIC funding
- Grant only
- Outcome
- Bankrupt, Antwerp court, January 2025
Where FOx Biosystems Stands Now
FOx Biosystems is in bankruptcy, and FaillissementsDossier shows no curator's reports published. No buyer for its technology or assets has been announced. It filed no accounts for 2024.
"The main pain for EV R&D community (both academic and industrial) is a lack of standardized EV tools that allow a user-friendly, time-and cost-efficient EV isolation, quantification and characterization."
FOx Biosystems, report to the EICThe Technology: A Sensor Dipped Into the Sample
Conventional EV isolation relies on filters and ultracentrifugation, which the report calls "labor-intensive, variable and slow". FOx's approach uses a fibre-optic probe coated with capture antibodies, dipped into crude samples such as plasma, to catch EVs, measure how many there are and then release them for further analysis by mass spectrometry or electron microscopy.
What the EIC Project Promised, and What CORDIS Shows
The report sets out four work streams: an EV isolation and release kit, a quantitation assay for White FOx, software upgrades including US FDA 21 CFR part 11 compliance, and a go-to-market plan. It lists main achievements for each, from antibody-coated probes to a design and development plan. No product launch followed, and the project was terminated after the company went bankrupt.
- EV isolation kitReportedListed in report only.
- Quantitation assayReportedListed in report only.
- Commercial launchNot doneCompany bankrupt.
- Project completionTerminated26 February 2025.
The Money
FOx never showed a positive gross margin in its filed accounts from 2020 to 2023, and it lost between €1.1 million and €3.3 million a year. Equity fell by half to €1.29 million in 2023 while debts rose to €1.43 million. Its articles of association and capital were amended in August 2024, five months before the bankruptcy.
What Cannot Be Checked
Questions for the EIC
How much of the €2.5 million was paid before the termination, whether the EIC is claiming money back in the bankruptcy, what the EIC knew about FOx's finances when it signed the grant and what happened to the technology are not public.
Why Europe Should Care
The EIC signed this grant in April 2023 with a company whose accounts for 2020 and 2021 already showed negative gross margins and a loss of €2.28 million in 2021. It collapsed 18 months later. The case raises the question of how the EIC checks that grant-only beneficiaries can finance their own share and survive the project.
What the project promised
A standardised, automated tool to isolate and quantify extracellular vesicles, ready for market.
What the record shows
Bankruptcy in January 2025, a terminated grant, no product and no public account of the money spent.
The Verdict
Failed before the finish
FOx Biosystems went bankrupt 18 months into its EIC project. What the grant paid for, and whether any of it is recovered, has not been disclosed.
FOx Biosystems' curator and the EIC have not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on public records and published statements, linked throughout.
