CN Bio receives UK government grant to develop single and multi-organ models for COVID-19 research
pharmafile | March 2, 2021 | News story | Manufacturing and Production | CN Bio, COVID-19
CN Bio, a leading developer of single and multi-organ microphysiological systems (MPS), has received a grant from innovation agency Innovate UK to develop human-relevant MPS to advance investigations into COVID-19 infection.
The funding will be used to develop and test advanced cell culture models that represent different regions of the lung, and subsequently link these models to other organ systems – such as liver and gut – to inform the rapid development of novel therapeutics.
Current drug discovery and development processes can be limited by misrepresentative in vivo models that cause a large proportion of new medicines to fail when taken to clinical trials. To circumvent this, CN Bio is developing single and multi-organ COVID-19 models to investigate virology and immunology throughout the body, with a prolonged viable cell culture time for extended studies.
To further improve translatability of the coronavirus-infected lung culture, the 3D model will enable researchers to create an organotypic air-liquid interface, which has more utility than the current organoid approach, in which cilia within the structure make it difficult to study viral infection.
The information obtained from the MPS will support researchers across the globe to better understand the infection, and consequently develop medicines with improved accuracy and efficiency prior to reaching clinical stages.
The single and multi-organ COVID-19 lung and lung-liver models will be developed specifically for use with the company’s PhysioMimix lab-benchtop microphysiological system, a simple to use, plug-and-play solution for automating small scale MPS assays.
These features will enable the models to be rapidly shared with collaborators, where they can be further validated and incorporated into current research streams working to develop the next generation of therapeutics to treat and prevent coronavirus.
Dr Tomasz Kostrzewski, Director of Biology at CN Bio, said: “Through Innovate UK’s recognition of our technology’s potential, CN Bio is proud to be working on an additional COVID-19 project, to support the global effort in tackling the pandemic.
“This funding will enable us to develop and evaluate humanised single and multi-organ lung models, with the aim of deploying these to researchers investigating COVID-19 infection and immunology, and ultimately strengthen the fight against the spread of the virus.”
Darcy Jimenez
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