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WHO WE ARE

We built the lab we kept looking for and never found.

Lab4Paws is an independent in-vitro laboratory for pet nutrition, run by veterinary and cell-biology scientists. We work with dog and cat cells obtained ethically through a clinical network, under permit, and use them to find out whether a product does what its label says. No live animals. No feeding trials.

Meet the scientists
Scientist pipetting culture medium into a cell culture plate
WHY WE STARTED

Pet science was years behind human medicine.The tools simply did not exist.

Lab4Paws started from a gap. Davide, our founder, came from tissue engineering, where human research has an entire toolbox of cell models to test an idea before anyone commits to a trial. Veterinary medicine and pet nutrition had almost none of that, and it showed: science and drug development for dogs and cats were moving far slower than for people.

So he began building the testing models that were missing, designed around canine and feline biology rather than borrowed from human or rodent work. The first purpose was veterinary drug development. Then it became clear the same models could measure what an active ingredient does in animal nutrition.

That is where we chose to put the lab to work. There are brands formulating genuinely exceptional products who have never had a realistic way to prove it. We exist so that they can.

A pet supplement jar and its label next to an open lab notebook
From tissue engineering to the pet food bench

We did not set out to start a lab. We set out to build the models nobody had built yet for dogs and cats.

Davide, founder of Lab4Paws
SAMPLES & ETHICS

No animal experiments.Ever.

Our dog and cat cells come from a clinical network, not from an animal facility. Here is exactly how a sample reaches a culture flask.

  • Clinical surplusPartner veterinary clinics pass on tissue that would otherwise be discarded after routine surgery or diagnostics. The animal is a patient being treated for its own sake, never a subject enrolled for us.
  • Owner consent, on fileEach sample arrives with signed owner consent and a record of species, age and clinic of origin. Without that record, the sample does not enter a study.
  • Banked, not re-collectedOne donation becomes a characterised cell stock we expand and freeze. A single consented sample supports years of testing, instead of a new collection for every project.
Labelled cryogenic sample vials being placed into cold storage
Consented donor samples, banked for reuse

Registered, inspected and permitted by

Sample collection, storage and transport are carried out under the authorisations and oversight of these bodies.

  • Regierung von UnterfrankenGovernment of Lower Franconia
  • Istituto Superiore di SanitàNational Institute of Health, Italy
  • Veterinäramt Stadt NürnbergVeterinary Office, City of Nuremberg
  • Bundesamt für NaturschutzFederal Agency for Nature Conservation

The Scientists Behind the Claim

Davide Confalonieri, PhD
Founder & CEO
Davide is a biotechnology entrepreneur and scientist with a background in tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, and preclinical research. He founded Lab4Paws to close the infrastructure gap in veterinary science — and applies the same scientific standards to pet food claim validation that his lab uses daily for pharmaceutical clients. His experience spans scientific research, international commercial strategy, and building scalable platforms for veterinary preclinical science.
Shrinidhi Thottangal Mohan, MSc MSc
Head of Laboratory Operations
Shrinidhi holds two Master's degrees in Microbiology and Molecular and Cellular Biology. She leads laboratory operations at Lab4Paws, specialising in the isolation and expansion of animal primary cells, development of in vitro models, and optimisation of cell culture systems. The biological assays behind every validated pet food claim run through her hands.
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