Wednesday, May 28, 2025
5/28/2025
Tools for drug efficacy studies in perfused tissue models - Organ-on-a-chip tools that recapitulate human biology, physiology and pathology are urgently needed in applied science research and drug testing to expedite discoveries while reducing research costs and animal sacrifice. Unfortunately, most products incorporating circulation mimicking perfusion are too complicated for researchers to use, incompatible with many protocols and reads, and low-throughput. Our goal is to change this for ordinary lab personnel and for researchers across disciplines. We will make a researcher-centric product that does not require special skills or training for use, a tool that is flexible enough to serve diverse research objectives, and a tool that for pharmaceutical industry means a simple, low-cost solution for predictive drug testing. Lena Biosciences’ perfused, human, multi-organ platform will revolutionize preclinical testing of first line therapy drugs that clear or metabolize slowly, saving pharmaceutical companies time and money while reducing human safety hazards. The platform will be made in a standard, screening-accessible format known to any user in life sciences, biotechnology and drug discovery for ease of use and user adoption. It will support perfused, three-dimensional organ models for physiologically closer drug delivery and distribution by mimicking drug distribution intra-tissue and intra-tissue resistance to drug transport. It will be especially well suited for in vitro testing of high molecular weight, humanized therapeutics that are administered to patients intravenously and retained in circulation for the period of weeks. Ultimately, the platform will also serve as a prognostic tool by providing concentrated cell secretome, proteome and metabolome to prevent severe reactions in human trials while facilitating identification of biomarkers, cellular and biochemical changes in response to drugs. The utility of this human platform will be demonstrated using three-dimensional organ models of lung cancer, breast cancer, brain and liver, and further validated by showing predictive in vitro efficacy and off-target toxicity testing of approved drugs.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).