Grants and Contributions:

Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year (2017-2018 to 2018-2019).

During human clinical trials, a large percentage of candidate drugs fail because they are unsafe or ineffective.x000D
Even when pre-clinical cell and animal studies seem positive, problems occur because tests done with drugs onx000D
these models are often not predictive of what happens in humans. Much of this is due to significant differencesx000D
in biology between species.x000D
For instance, ion channels (membrane proteins through which heart cells conduct electrical currents) can varyx000D
between humans and animals. Many drugs, including non-cardiovascular drugs, target these ion channels in thex000D
heart, which can potentially result in lethal arrhythmias. Thus, it is critical to use preclinical models that canx000D
closely reproduce what happens in humans to better predict drug safety.x000D
To streamline the therapeutic development pipeline, we will develop a novel 3D bioprinted human cardiacx000D
tissue model which will improve the translational science process for predicting whether drugs will be safe andx000D
effective in humans. The goal is to develop 3D human cardiac tissue structure(s) that closely model thex000D
electrophysiological properties of the human heart, relevant to impulse conduction and arrhythmia generation.x000D
We will use a known cardiac cell line, HL-1, that mimics human cardiac cells and and novel microfluidic basedx000D
3D bioprinting technology and methodologies to build the 3D cardiac tissue. Ultimately, these models arex000D
expected to replace the use of animals to screen drugs for safety and efficacy.x000D
To validate our models, we will evaluate the cardiotoxicity potential of a range of known compounds, andx000D
compare the outcome with data obtained using current standard assays. It takes on average over $2.5 billion tox000D
develop and gain marketing approval for a new drug. About $100 million is required to complete thex000D
pre-clinical studies alone. Using novel bioprinted models of cardiac tissue is expected to significantly cut thex000D
cost and time of bringing a new drug to market.