Objective
MUSCLEGUY represents a unique opportunity to commercialize a novel 3D in vitro system for screening and validation of drug candidates to treat muscle disorders. Although skeletal muscle disorders are relatively rare they pose a huge socioeconomic burden. Currently there is a lack of therapeutic options for the majority of patients. This is, for an important part, due to the lack of reliable, reproducible, and physiological relevant in vitro models of muscle disorders that accurately reflect the in vivo reality on which novel therapeutic strategies may be developed.
We generated a novel 3D in vitro system of highly matured myofibers, the relevant functional unit of the muscle affected in most muscle disorders and used it to identify novel therapeutic targets of muscle disorders. During MUSCLEGUY, we will further technically optimise our in vitro system to generate human relevant disease models for muscle disorder. Such systems can be used for drug screening and validation. In addition, we will further investigate the commercial feasibility of our product by conducting an elaborate market analysis and establishing a strong IP portfolio. The ultimate aim of MUSCLEGUY is to develop a business plan to convince the relevant stakeholders. Our novel 3D in vitro system for muscle disorder has the potential to meet the requirements for pharmaceutical drug discovery research (HTS format, reproducible and robust) and drastically reduce the associated costs and the number of animals used, in order to further increase the interest of the pharmaceutical industry for muscle disorders.
Fields of science
Not validated
Not validated
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
ERC-POC - Proof of Concept GrantHost institution
1649 028 Lisboa
Portugal