From lab to market: How vessel-chips are changing drug testing

As the medical field seeks more ethical and accurate alternatives to traditional drug testing, vessel-chip technology is a prospective solution. This technology promises greater accuracy and a reduced need for animal trials.

In an interview with MEDICA-tradefair.com, Dr. Abhishek Jain covers the impact of the vessel-chip technology on the medical field, the obstacles and strategic steps toward commercializing this approach.

Dr. Jain, how does the vessel-chip technology differ from traditional drug testing methods?

Abhishek Jain: Traditional drug testing often relies on animal models during the preclinical stage. After identifying a promising molecule, it is tested on animals before moving to human trials. However, 95 percent of the time, treatments that work in animals fail in human trials, highlighting a significant gap between animal models and human outcomes. This gap is widening as newer drugs target increasingly complex diseases, while the preclinical pipeline remains unchanged, leading to higher failure rates and rising costs. This financial burden ultimately affects patients.

Organs-on-chip, or tissue chips, offer a solution by mimicking the physiological functions of specific organs or tissues. These microfluidic vessel-chip systems can create disease models for more accurate drug testing.

What are the advantages in terms of accuracy and personalization in the medical field?

Jain: Working with tissue systems allows us to use small quantities of human cells to build tissue constructs, essentially creating a miniaturized version of a human for drug testing. This approach offers two key advantages: personalization and improved predictive power. Tissue chips can be made from individual cells obtained through biopsies or blood samples, enabling us to recreate human tissues for detailed examination and drug testing.

By bypassing animal models and using actual human tissues on a chip, the accuracy of predictions improves. While these models do not replicate the entire complexity of the human body, they are designed to test specific tissues or molecules by isolating relevant signaling pathways. This method enhances the signal-to-noise ratio, providing clearer results in drug testing.

How can these new advancements reduce reliance on animal testing?

Jain: The new FDA Modernization Act 2.0 allows drugs to enter clinical trials without mandatory animal testing if alternative methods meet FDA standards. This act has brought in vitro tools, once overlooked, into the mainstream, giving them equal standing with animal models. If these models can be validated to produce high-quality data, clinical trials can begin without the need for animal testing, helping to reduce the use of animals in the drug development process.

Did you encounter any specific challenges during the development of the vessel-chip technology?

Jain: A primary challenge is fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, which is crucial for success. Another one is attracting investors and funders who believe in the project's potential. Ten years ago, we faced significant resistance, and that resistance still exists today. We are not just introducing new technologies; we are challenging a belief system that has been established over decades.

Changing this mindset takes time, and many see it as a high-risk venture. Pharma companies, the FDA, investors, and federal agencies remain skeptical, but the real challenge is convincing them that engineering can solve complex biological problems without relying on traditional animal models.

How did you overcome these challenges?

Jain: Perseverance is key. Start by educating students—engineers, biologists, and medical students—that animals are not the only option for drug discovery. Highlight the effectiveness of engineering tools. Then, educate your peers and funding agencies through publications and discussions to build belief in these methods.

Ongoing conversations with the FDA and pharmaceutical companies show that while this technology is still new and requires further validation, it can eventually reduce reliance on animal models. It is not about replacing animal systems immediately but rather complementing and reducing them. By integrating organs-on-chips into the preclinical pipeline, we can refine both approaches, creating a feedback loop that improves efficiency and reduces costs. This combined approach could help reach human clinical trials faster and make them more efficient.

Your work has culminated in the founding of a startup company. Could you elaborate on the role of the startup in advancing vessel-chip technology?

Jain: After nearly fifteen years in this field, with more than 50 publications and ten patent applications, we are ready to move from research to commercialization. With the growing acceptance of in vitro methods, now is the right time to bring this technology from the lab to the market.

We have identified a market for our specific organs-on-chip and distinguished ourselves from competitors. With this foundation, we are confident we can attract investment and move toward commercialization. We have just started this process.

Looking ahead, what are the next steps for your team and the startup in scaling the vessel-chip technology?

Jain: We still need to name the company and find people with business expertise, not just academic backgrounds. As an academic, it is crucial to have a team that can turn our invention into a profitable business. We are focused on identifying the market and bridging the gap between lab success and commercial value.

While we have initial investment, we need people who can scale up the company and make it sustainable over the next ten years.