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Organ and organoid chips (MED-OOC) PEPR

The current overall success rate in clinical trials of new medicines with proven efficacy in animal tests is only around 10%. In fact, animal models fail to predict human toxicity in at least 50% of cases, are generally often inadequate for exploring the mechanisms of human disease and their use of course raises ethical issues. On the other hand, current in vitro cell cultures imitate in vivo mechanisms poorly and do not effectively address the key issue of patient variability for the development of personalised medicine. Organs and organoids on a chip (O&OoC) have emerged as a key innovation providing in vitro human models that faithfully reproduce in vivo conditions. The science underpinning O&OoCs is at the interface between cell and tissue engineering and microfluidics. These miniaturised devices contain living organ substructures in a controlled microenvironment and are capable of reproducing one or more aspects of the architecture, dynamics and functions of the organ concerned or even of several interconnected organs. They thus offer the possibility of controlling different functions in real time.

The MED-OOC PEPR's main objectives will be to promote a new generation of OoCs based on patient-derived cells and tissue precursors like organoids and thus recapitulate the (patho)physiological reality of a patient's organ. This will all be combined with advanced 'on-chip' monitoring capabilities.

These O&OoCs will offer:

  • researchers, doctors and industry with an invaluable alternative to animal models and conventional in vitro models that are representative of human phenotypic diversity;
  • clinicians access to standardised 'single-organ' or 'multi-organ' chips produced using patients' own cells. These will serve as 'clinical twins' - essential and dynamic complements to the 'digital twins' that are also currently being developed.

 

  • Pilots: CEA, CNRS, Inserm
  • Budget: €48m allocated

Find out more: Towards organs on chips at patients' bedside, interview with Anne-Marie Gué on February 20th 2024

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