In a collaboration effort to test whether existing drug candidates block infection from respiratory pathogens like SARS-CoV-2, researchers from the Wyss Institute at Harvard University, the University of Maryland School of Medicine, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and others used Emulate technology to develop an Airway Lung-Chip to examine eight existing candidate therapeutics for SARS-CoV-2, including hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine. The study is reported in Nature Biomedical Engineering.
The Airway Lung-Chip used for these studies is a small microfluidic culture system device with two parallel channels separated by a porous membrane. Human lung airway cells are grown in one channel exposed to air, while human blood vessel cells are grown in the other channel exposed to cell culture medium to mimic blood flow. Cells in the Airway Lung-Chip differentiate into specific types similar to those in the human airway and develop lung-specific traits. The cells also express angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE2) receptors on their surface, which is co-opted by the virus to gain entry into cells.
“The collaboration with the Wyss Institute and the Frieman and tenOever labs has created a preclinical drug development pipeline that produced clinically significant results with incredible speed,” said Lorna Ewart, EVP of Science at Emulate. “ With customizable Organ-Chip technology in the hands of researchers, preclinical testing of new drug candidates or repurposed drugs can be further accelerated in a more human-relevant models, allowing us to be better prepared to confront this and future pandemics.”
To read more, click here.
Astrocyte Pharmaceuticals Inc., a drug discovery and development company advancing novel neuroprotective therapeutics for treating neurodegenerative brain injuries, has completed a Series A funding round that raised $6 million. The company’s lead therapeutic is based on technology originally licensed from University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, to address the unmet need for a drug that can reduce injury to the brain resulting from stroke, traumatic brain injury, concussion and other neurodegenerative conditions. Funding will be used to bring the therapeutic to Phase 1 human trials.
Boston Harbor Angels led the round. It was joined by Clinical Research Ventures, DeepWork Capital, Life Science Angels, Trend Investment Group, Dreamers Startup Ventures, Zhi Gao Holdings, Mass Medical Angels, Mid Atlantic Bio Angels, Kyto Technology and Life Science, SideCar Angels, and others. To read more, click here.
Bone Health Technologies, a company that develops technologies to improve outcomes for osteoporosis, closed a $2.5 million funding round. It also added three board members: Karen Drexler, a founding member of Astia Angels; Nancy Lynch MD, a board certified and fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeon; and Sam Goldberger MD, a co-founder and managing partner of Ambit Health Ventures.
Bone Health was initially created in the medtech incubator TheraNova.
Good Growth Capital led the oversubscribed funding round, which includes investments by Astia Angels, Ambit Health Ventures, Portfolia Femtech Fund, IT-Farm, Golden Seeds, Berkeley Angel Network, the Band of Angels, Reno Seed Fund as well as individual angel investors. To read more, click here.
Picture: akindo, Getty Images
Coinsmart. Beste Bitcoin-Börse in Europa
Source: https://medcitynews.com/2021/05/startupdates-new-developments-from-healthcare-startups-27/
