Harvard University researchers are tapping into Sony's manufacturing expertise with the goal of mass-producing matchbox-sized "organs-on-chips" that could make it possible for scientists to test new drugs easily without animal trials.
Though recognized globally as a CD, DVD and Blu-ray disc maker, Sony's DADC subsidiary has come to view biotech as a "future frontier that is not yet open," said Dr. Don Ingber, founding director of Harvard's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering.
"We're trying to take a look at the long trajectory and start now by working with companies who can help us think in big terms," Ingber said. "They understand the challenges in scaling up — instead of making one or two (chips), make thousands or millions of them and do it inexpensively."
The human "organs-on-chips" are made of a clear, flexible polymer that contains hollow microfluidic channels lined by living human cells. The chips can mimic physiological functions of different human organs and allow researchers to observe what happens in real time when a drug, toxin or chemical is administered, Ingber said.
A lung-on-a-chip already has proven successful in mimicking pulmonary edema and the institute has at least 10 more organ chips under development, including a heart-, liver-, kidney- and gut-on-a-chip, thanks to support from such organizations as the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health.
"I see a lot of similarities between biochips and CDs," said Manfred Koranda, marketing director for Sony DADC's BioSciences division. "Both of them need microstructures. Both of them need careful selection of materials. Both of them need the most stringent quality control."
In addition to using established cell lines isolated from humans years ago, the institute is starting to isolate cells from surgical specimens and study adult stem cells for the chips, Ingber said.
The chips will be marketed to the drug, biotech, cosmetics and tobacco industries as well as to researchers at the FDA and the Environmental Protection Agency, Ingber said. He added that the current animal model of testing is not predictive of drug efficacy and safety in humans.
"The number of drugs getting approved has been decreasing over the years. It's getting more and more expensive and (fewer) drugs are being developed and approved," he said. "This is really a big problem and this is a potential way out, so that's exciting."
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has thrown its support behind the chips.
"From both the point of view of reducing the use of animals in laboratories and improving human health, we love these chips," said Jessica Sandler, director of the animal rights group's regulatory testing division.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency also has provided a five-year, $37 million grant for organs-on-chips research, which the institute is using to develop an "automated instrument" that integrates 10 human organs-on-chips into a "human body-on-chips" that simulates whole body physiology, Ingber said.
Through genome sequencing, the institute said it has the potential to identify "genetic subpopulations" with commonalities, and then create organ chips representative of those subgroups. Drug companies then could test their candidates to see if there is a particular subgroup that is sensitive or resistant to that drug, he said.
"These results could then guide the design of a narrow human clinical trial that would hopefully have a much greater chance of success than they do today," said Ingber, adding the institute's "game plan" is to create a spinout company focusing on organs-on-chips technology.
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