Things are hotting up in the field of “organs on a chip” and researchers in Nanjing are among those at the forefront of the emerging revolution in pharmaceutical development that could put an end to testing on animals for once and for all.
This is the stuff of fantasy from the movie, Avatar, that has been turned into reality by scientists in the field of biology working in the lab at Nanjing’s Jiangsu Sports and Health Research Institute (JSHRI; 江苏运动健康研究院). And this past year has seen enormous advances in the field.
JSHRI was jointly established in December, 2021, by Southeast University, municipal and district government, Huawei, and the Jiangsu Industrial Technology Research Institute. JSHRI has the aim to accelerate the industrial transformation of medical care, wearable devices and AI pharma.
Organs on a chip are also one of the key research directions for JSHRI.
According to the Wyss Institute at Harvard, Organs on a chip are “micro fluidic culture devices that recapitulate the complex structures and functions of living human organs”. Roughly the size of a USB memory stick, the devices are lined with living human organ cells and blood vessel cells. In effect cross-sections of human organs, they offer insights in to the inner workings of human organs and the effects of drugs thereon.
The upsides are enormous; no more testing on humans or animals, and vastly accelerated drug development times.
Rated as one of the world’s top ten emerging technologies by the Davos World Economic Forum, since the USA took the lead on joint development of organ-on-a-chip tech in 2011, countries around the world have set off a wave of research and development.
The cost of bringing a new drug from invention to market often exceeds US$1 billion, with the R&D phase taking 10 years. The traditional drug research and development model is not only time consuming and labour intensive, but also has a high failure rate.
That’s down to the testing on animals, where the mismatch in biology between animals and humans means that drugs which are safe and effective for the former can be be quite the opposite for the latter.
That’s where Nanjing’s Southeast University came in, last year year taking the initiative to create a national standard for organs on a chip for skin. It’s big business too, in helping to comply with the requirement to cancel experiments on animals for cosmetics exported to Europe.
Yu Wenlong, Executive Vice President with JSHRI, revealed to media that since settling in in Jiangning High-tech Zone last November, they have gathered over 20 teams and formed cooperations with in excess of 50 ecological enterprises, worth some ¥60 million.
The overall goal is the realising of a ¥10 billion sports and health industry ecosystem in Nanjing. And a feel-good one at that; the next new drug you try may well have never been tested on animals.
