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Charles River Joins Consortium to Advance Organ-On-A-Chip Technology
Supporting the evolution of next-generation drug development technology
The NXTGEN HIGHTECH program drives the development and standardization of organ-on-a-chip technology. The Dutch consortium brings together more than 330 parties from industry and knowledge institutes to advance a range of next-generation technologies and to establish scalable, viable market pipelines.
The aim of organ-on-a-chip technology is to mimic human physiology, presenting a biologically relevant in vitro testing environment which maintains tissue-specific functions. In this way, it is possible to facilitate early in vitro testing of how a therapeutic might affect human cells with a functional readout.
The NXTGEN HIGHTECH program has invested €1 billion, with a further €450 million contribution from the National Growth Fund, to advance next generation technologies including biomedical devices such as organs-on-chips and artificial organs. Further areas of focus include agrifood, composites, energy, laser satcom, and semiconductors. This collaboration unites 330 partners across Dutch industry and academia, including Charles River Netherlands, to help bring these innovations to market.
Marc Hendrikse, Board Chairman of NXTGEN HIGHTECH, comments: “The urgency for new technology applications is high, and we need solutions now.” The program aims to develop paradigm-shifting technology to the point of application, as well as digitize factories and the supply chain to enable viable production and distribution.
We reached out to Marijn Vlaming, Head of Discovery Sciences, and Ludovico Buti, Senior Research Leader, who are driving Charles River’s participation with the NXTGEN HIGHTECH program, specifically development of organ-on-a-chip.
How will organ-on-a-chip change and advance drug discovery?
Marijn: Organ-on-a-chip has been around a while, right? We’ve heard a lot about organ-on-a-chip and it shows a huge amount of promise. What we’ve not really seen yet is the technology in everyday practice, certainly not in the application of drug discovery, because it needs to be better validated and made more accessible. This is a technology with the potential to make a genuine impact.
So, the nice thing about organ-on-a-chip, of course, is that you have an in vitro system with human cells, which is more similar to the physiological situation in the body, compared to a normal in vitro system where you have only cells. Because you use microfluidics or you can use specific shear, cells are placed in an environment that is much closer to, or better mimics, the in vivo situation of the human body. That is the promise of organs-on-chips.
Ludo: Attrition rate is a major issue in drug development, and this really cries out for a better way to select drug candidates at the early stage of drug discovery programs. This is now being achieved by screening drugs in a more physiological setting. Organ-on-a-chip is the future in this area. It will introduce more stringent selection criteria, allowing compounds with a more efficacious and safer profile to move forward in the discovery program and removing non-viable molecules much earlier, with the important added benefit of reducing and refining animal studies.
How can next generation technology like organ-on-a-chip effect real change for patients?
Ludo: It should help us have better readouts. For example, using the skeletal muscle on a chip for contractility measurements. What we currently do in drug discovery is look at, for example, protein expression and RNA expression, and the effects of a therapeutic on that. But in the end, you want to have a functional readout. How strong is the muscle? If you have a specific disease, for example, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, you will see effects on the contractility. So, how strongly can the muscle contract and how does a drug improve that?
Marijn: And that is what, in the end, you actually want to treat and what you want to improve in a patient. With these types of systems, you can better mimic that key functionality and hopefully also have better readouts and, therefore, produce more effective drugs to treat patients.
Why are programs like this important to the drug development industry?
Marijn: This project aims to move beyond theoretical research and implement practical, deployable technology development. The idea is to set up robust production pipelines for many kinds of technologies, including biomedical, making sure that it’s standardized, scalable, and commercially viable. Not an experimental technology, but one which is validated and readily available for use.
Ludo: The exciting part for me is that the goal is to expedite new technology, like organ-on-a-chip, to the point where organizations like Charles River can make this an accessible and standard research option for our client’s application, which is of course drug discovery and development. Not just proof of concept, but available to actually use. And that the data and insight produced by the technology carries the weight to drive drug development and study design decisions, and to support regulatory approval.
To learn more about how Charles River is applying innovative technology within the drug discovery pipeline and how you can leverage new approaches to support and accelerate your research, please get in touch with our team.
About NXTGEN HIGHTECH
This project is made possible in part by a contribution from the National Growth Fund program NXTGEN HIGHTECH. This program will invest as much as € 1 billion until 2030 with over 330 partners, in more than 60 projects and in six essential domains. In doing so, NXTGEN HIGHTECH will make a significant contribution to the structural and sustainable economic growth in the Netherlands and offer solutions for the major societal challenges in the areas of energy transition, health, safety and food.
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