Project description
Neurodegenerative disease-specific brain-on-a-chip model for preclinical testing
Drug discovery for neurodegenerative diseases requires better models for preclinical testing as the current in vitro 2D cell culture and in vivo rodent models fail to recapitulate the conditions in the human brain. The Luxembourg company Braingineering Technologies has developed a 3D in vitro brain on a chip model for medium-throughput screening of drugs. The technology is based on microfluidics in a hydrogel environment for 3D cell culture, mimicking the conditions in vivo. The company will also provide midbrain organoids as the 3D structures of different cell types that are organised to recapitulate the human midbrain, which is affected by Parkinson’s disease. The EU-funded BTech project will focus on the feasibility assessment of technical and business objectives for this promising technology.
Objective
Drug development for Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and further neurodegenerative diseases is struggling due to high failure rate and high costs. BTech is a new 3D in vitro Brain-on-a-Chip technology that can offer medium-throughput screening of drugs during pre-clinical testing that more accurately reflects the effects of drugs on humans than conventional 2D cell cultures and mouse models. The technology is based on microfluidics where cells are cultured in three dimensional hydrogel environments mimicking the conditions in vivo.
BTech provides solutions for pharmaceutical companies, specialised biotech companies and academic researchers to test novel drug compounds with applications in neurodegenerative disorders and for toxicity testing. The business model is based on two applications:
• As a Service in it`s own the laboratory, BT cultivates human stem cell derived neurons and midbrain organoids and then evaluates the application of customers’ compounds on them.
• As a Product, the company offers ready-made midbrain organoids. These organoids are 3D structures with specialized brain cells that are spatially and functionally organized to mimic the physiological state of the human brain. The organoids are sold and shipped to customers and used directly by them as a research material or a pre-clinical model.
During Phase 1, the feasibility assessment will focus on following technical and business objectives during its 6 months, to develop a robust plan for Phase 2, which intend to reach the industrial stage of development and commercialize BTech on the market. It intend to scout and involve companies from the pharma industry, such as Sanofi, Evotec AG, Farcoderm or UCD to validate in Phase 2 the software, platform and processes, by performing 2 test with a total of 20 compounds.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy drug discovery
- medical and health sciences basic medicine neurology dementia alzheimer
- medical and health sciences medical biotechnology cells technologies stem cells
- medical and health sciences basic medicine neurology parkinson
- engineering and technology other engineering and technologies microtechnology organ on a chip
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.2.1.4. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies – Biotechnology
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.2.3.1. - Mainstreaming SME support, especially through a dedicated instrument
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-SMEInst-2016-2017
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
4362 ESCH-SUR-ALZETTE
Luxembourg
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.