A High-throughput, Functional Imaging Platform to Accelerate Drug Discovery

Project Information

Ima-Go

Grant agreement ID: 854430

DOI

10.3030/854430

Project closed

EC signature date 28 January 2019

Start date 1 February 2019

End date 31 July 2019

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

MAXWELL BIOSYSTEMS AG
Switzerland

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Ima-Go (A High-throughput, Functional Imaging Platform to Accelerate Drug Discovery)

Reporting period: 2019-02-01 to 2019-07-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

More than one billion people worldwide suffer from central nervous system (CNS) disorders and treatment costs annually 1.4 T€ in the EU and US. Brain drugs are 45% less likely to succeed and progress than non-brain drugs.

Society is aging and neurological disorders increasing. By 2050, the number of people living with dementia could be around 100 million.

The objectives of Ima-Go project are:
(1) Increase the success rate of brain drugs.
(2) Launch and commercialization of a high-throughput and robust in vitro screening platform for preclinical drug testing using induced pluripotent stem cells modeling human diseases.
(3) Introduction of novel bioassays to assess cellular function and morphology, label-free, in the preclinical drug screening market.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The Ima-Go project work focused on economic and financial feasibility, market assessment, technical assessment and industry integration of MaxWell Biosystems high-throughput label-free functional imaging technology. The main results achieved so far are:
(1) Establishment of commercial and collaboration relationships with pharmaceutical industry, biotechnology industry, contract research organizations and academic laboratories for testing Ima-Go core technology.
(2) Testing and establishment of additional marketing tools, such as a world launch tour (WLT): 1-day long events in cities with a high concentration of pharma/biotech companies and top universities (e.g. Boston, Tokyo and Shanghai).
(3) Detailed study of competitors’ technology and strengthen of key hardware/software aspects to develop and include in Ima-Go platform.
(4) Positive outcome of technical feasibility in regard to integration 96 high-resolution microelectrode array chips in a standard well-plate format.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

We performed proof-of-concept studies with industry collaborators, showing that Ima-Go technology can deliver long-term (>4 weeks) and more robust functional readouts of neuronal activity as compared to the state-of-the-art functional readouts. Accurate and robust functional readouts will impact drug screenings of hundreds of neuronal lines modeling human brain disease.

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