CN Bio PhysioMimix Organ-on-a-Chip data supports Inipharm’s INI-822 for metabolic liver disease treatment now in clinical testing
- PhysioMimix NASH assay used to provide human-relevant data on compound efficacy for Inipharm’s lead candidate, INI-822
- Submission represents first example of an OOC provider’s data supporting clinical progression of a drug for metabolic, fibrotic liver disease
Cambridge, UK, 4 December 2023: CN Bio, a leading Organ-on-a-Chip (OOC) company that designs and manufactures single-and multi-organ microphysiological systems (MPS), today announced its PhysioMimix® assay for Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) was important for confirmation of efficacy for INI-822 from Inipharm, a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing therapies for severe liver diseases. The use of in vitro OOC for early evidence of efficacy for INI-822 demonstrates the transformative potential of these models to provide human-relevant data within preclinical programmes.
Inipharm has initiated Phase 1 dosing of its lead candidate1, INI-822. INI-822 is a small-molecule inhibitor for HSD17B13, a gene implicated in NASH. Loss-of-function variants of this gene are known to be associated with reduced incidence risk and severity of multiple liver diseases. As part of the recent regulatory submission, CN Bio’s Contract Research Services team utilised the Company’s PhysioMimix OOC Systems and NASH ‘in-a-box' (NIAB) kit to generate critical data to determine compound efficacy.
Despite research efforts to combat the growing prevalence of NASH, there are currently no regulatory approved therapeutics due to the inability of traditional in vivo approaches to accurately predict the human response to this complex metabolic disease. In conjunction with the PhysioMimix OOC, CN Bio’s ‘in-a-box’ range aims to fast-track the incorporation of MPS into drug discovery workflows by providing a straightforward and quick route to recreating the Company’s industry-proven models and assays. The NIAB kit was launched to support the urgent development of NASH therapeutics, providing physiologically relevant insights into the mechanism of disease, human drug efficacy and potential treatment regimens. The assay addresses the human-relevance limitations of existing approaches, bridging the gap between human 2D cell culture and expensive animal models, which are ineffective in mimicking the full disease spectrum.
Dr. Tomasz Kostrzewski, Chief Scientific Officer, said: “Inipharm’s progression to clinic is absolutely fantastic news and holds immense potential for patients worldwide. We are thrilled that our PhysioMimix system was able to provide physiologically relevant data to support the regulatory submission, becoming the first OOC provider whose data is supporting a drug to enter the clinic for a widespread metabolic, fibrotic liver disease.” He added: “Despite its prevalence, development of NASH treatments has been constrained for a long time due to a lack of clinical translatability during preclinical research. Inipharm’s recent submission has shown that OOC technology provides a clear route to overcoming this problem by enabling therapeutic developers to de-risk and avoid potential cross-species differences.”
CN Bio’s predictive, human, in vitro NASH model is available to customers via the Company’s Contract Research Services, or via the off-the-shelf NIAB kit, enabling users to incorporate the PhysioMimix NASH model into their own workflows. For more information, visit: https://cn-bio.com/
- Inipharm Initiates Dosing in Phase 1 Study of Its Small Molecule Inhibitor of HSD17B13: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231130655005/en/
ENDS
Notes to Editors
CN Bio
Dr Sarah Payne, Product Marketing Manager
Email: sarah.payne@cn-bio.com
About CN Bio https://cn-bio.com/
CN Bio is a leading organ-on-a-chip (OOC) company that offers a portfolio of products and services to optimise the accuracy and efficiency of bringing new medicines to market; providing significant savings in cost and time to drug discovery and development pipelines. With more than a decade of research and development experience in multi-organ microphysiology, CN Bio aims to transform the way human-relevant pre-clinical data is generated through the development of the most complete model of the human “Body-on-a-Chip” in the laboratory.
The Company’s range of lab-benchtop PhysioMimix® microphysiological systems (MPS) enable researchers to model human biology in the lab through rapid and predictive 3D human tissue-based studies that harness microfluidic technology to provide nutrients and mimic blood flow. The technology bridges the gap between traditional cell culture and human studies, advancing towards the simulation of human biological conditions to support the accelerated and more efficient development of new therapeutics, whilst reducing the dependence on animal model usage.
CN Bio’s MPS support researchers that require reliable, data-rich, in vitro studies, to uncover novel mechanistic insights into a broad range of biological processes across healthy and diseased cell-types, in addition to identifying novel therapeutic targets and investigating drug efficacy, pharmacokinetics and potential toxicity.
The Company’s next-generation OOC assays span a range of organ types, including lung, liver and gut. Single organs can be linked together into multi-organ systems to simulate processes such as drug absorption and metabolism, or to understand interactions between organs, such as inflammation.
Harnessing these assays, its portfolio of MPS, 3D validated cells, compatible consumable plates and research services have been developed to address drug development bottlenecks across a range of therapeutic areas, including metabolic and infectious diseases, oncology, and inflammation.
CN Bio’s headquarters and laboratories are based in Cambridge, UK, with an international network of distributors.