The re-use of existing drugs saves time and money in order to find a therapeutic against the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 as quickly as possible. First, however, such rededicated drugs must prove their efficacy. Organ-on-a-chip models are a good choice here for investigating because animal models are not only scarcely available, but the results are not easily transferable to the human situation due to species differences.

For their investigations, the team of scientists uses an existing COVID-19-infection model and combines it with an immunocompetent lung-on-chip platform developed by Dynamic42. (Dynamic42 was recently portrayed by InVitro+Jobs). In addition to the development of human organ-on-chip models and their use for pharmaceutical studies, infection models for SARS-CoV-2 research will be established.

Due to the complexity of SARS-CoV-2 infection, the lack of knowledge about the exact pathogenesis and the special importance of the human immune system, organ-on-chip (OoC) systems offer a new possibility to test drugs in non-clinical studies, according to the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology (IGB).

Source: Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology
https://www.igb.fraunhofer.de/en/reference-projects/C19.html

Click here for the working group - a portrait, Dynamic42:
https://www.invitrojobs.com/index.php/en/research-and-methods/working-group-a-portrait/item/4701-working-group-a-portrait-dynamic42-gmbh