Project description DEENESFRITPL A revolutionary organ on a chip will deliver drug toxicity results in a heartbeat Drug development is a time-consuming and expensive process involving, among other things, testing for potential unanticipated side effects. Many safety-related drug withdrawals are due to cardiotoxicity. Given the potentially catastrophic consequences of cardiac side effects, evaluating cardiac safety is critical yet remains a major hurdle in drug development. As the pharmaceutical industry seeks alternatives to animal testing, the Italian SME BiomimX has a powerful solution. Integrating 3D cell culture and mechanical stimulation, the company has developed a beating heart on a chip able to respond to drugs much as a human heart would do for rapid toxicity screening very early in the drug pipeline. The EU-funded uHeart project is laying the groundwork to make it commercially available. Show the project objective Hide the project objective Objective The cost to develop new drugs is huge, mainly due to the failure rate in the drug discovery process. Current in vitro modelsare too simplistic, owing to limited prediction of systemic side-effects of molecules, e.g. cardiotoxicity. On the other hand, invivo models, far more complex, provide responses to drugs often different from those found in humans.Furthermore, recent legislation about 3R principle (i.e. Directive 2010/63/EU) is encouraging Pharma industry towards thesearch for methods alternative to animal testing. In this scenario, the demand for innovative in vitro tools able to predictcardiotoxicity already in the pre-clinical phase is urgent. To address this need BiomimX is developing uHeart. uHeart is aminiaturized model of human heart, responding to drugs likewise the natural heart. Our patented technologies allow thegeneration of fully-mature cardiac tissues, providing 3D cardiac cells with a mechanical training resembling the heartbeating. uHeart is the only tool currently available featuring such a high level of specificity in replicating heart responses, andthanks to its micrometer scale it comes with a huge saving in terms of costs and analysis time. BiomimX is currentlyvalidating uHeart as a predictor of cardiac drug safety in early stages of the pre-clinical phase. BiomimX targets the marketof Pharma and CRO that will use uHeart as innovative tool to screen the cardiotoxicity of putative new molecules, savingtime and money for drug development. Thanks to this innovation project, BiomimX will complete both technical and freedomto operate analyses for uHeart. In the meanwhile, a roll-out phase will be carried out with ten potential customers. At the endof Phase I, uHeart is expected to reach a TRL7. A refined business plan will allow BiomimX to negotiate a round Ainvestment, estimated around 2.5M€, pivotal to launch uHeart on the market of Pharma within the next three years. Fields of science medical and health sciencesbasic medicinepharmacology and pharmacydrug discoverymedical and health sciencesbasic medicinepharmacology and pharmacydrug safety Programme(s) H2020-EU.2.3. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs Main Programme H2020-EU.3. - PRIORITY 'Societal challenges H2020-EU.2.1. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies Topic(s) EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020 - SME instrument Call for proposal H2020-EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020 See other projects for this call Sub call H2020-SMEInst-2018-2020-1 Funding Scheme SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1 Coordinator BIOMIMX SRL Net EU contribution € 50 000,00 Address Via giovanni durando 38/a 20158 Milano Italy See on map SME The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed. Yes Region Nord-Ovest Lombardia Milano Activity type Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 21 429,00
