StemoniX opens California site to focus on microOrgan research platform

09-Jul-2019 - Last updated on 09-Jul-2019 at 14:10 GMT

(Image: Getty/Motorion)

StemoniX opens a new facility in California to house its research team working on its high-throughput microOrgan technology platforms for drug discovery and preclinical development.

MicroOrgans, the technology platform, uses assay plates that contain living microtissues engineered from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC). According to the company, it is the first ready-to-use platform of this type.

StemoniX also said that microOrgans are designed to enable high-throughput human drug screening without the need for drugs to enter a human body. The platform includes the microBrain and the microHeart to offer the potential to conduct research in these areas at a lower cost by not relying on animal models and human testing.

StemoniX also provides services to its partner organizations to screen compounds and create customized microORgan models and assays tailored to individual discovery and toxicity needs.

According to Ping Yeh, CEO of StemoniX, the company’s microOrgan platform has been used to develop a disease model for Rhett Syndrome as part of a research collaboration agreement with the National institute of Health’s (NIH) National Center for Advancing Translational sciences.

“Our new facility will enable us to build upon these and other innovations involving our microOrgans, while at the same time, fostering collaborations with forward-thinking pharmaceutical and biotech companies,” Yeh said in a statement.

Located in La Jolla, the new facility is near facilities for Janssen, Takeda, Vertex, and Celgene and other pharmaceutical companies, as well as biotech research labs.