Development of lung and lung-liver microphysiological systems for studying SARS-CoV2 infection and immunology

The SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic has been met with an unprecedented global response from the scientific and medical communities, to accelerate understanding and ultimately treatment and prophylaxis of the virus. An overwhelming need for new or re-purposed medicines and tools for their discovery exists. Currently, discovering and developing new medicines is a process spanning decades. New medicines require rigorous pre-clinical development prior to clinical trials with thousands of patients. Despite the rigor, new medicines often fail when taken to clinical trial. A large portion of this development is performed _in vivo-_ in animal models and while _in vivo_ testing has proved to be a valuable resource, the inherent differences across human and animals likely results in misrepresenting the effects of the medicines when translated to a human setting. New and innovate tools are therefore required to provide a more realistic representation of the human cell and tissue environments, enabling more accurate development of therapeutics.

The team at CN Bio aims to develop a human 3D "organ-on-chip" lung cell culture model that more accurately reflects the human environment. To investigate the effects of SARS-CoV-2 in the lung we will use SARS-CoV-2 pseudoparticles, a reliable alternative to live virus. This system will also be used to investigate the effect of SARS-CoV-2 infection throughout the body by linking other organ systems including the liver and gut. We will use our state-of-the-art proprietary technology, the PhysioMimix system to meet these goals. This system is currently in commercial use for modelling the liver, and our in-house capabilities allows us to rapidly prototype, test and validated new cellular models. We will work in collaboration with academic, industrial and government partners to ensure this model is suitable to reflect the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Ultimately, this system will enable researchers across the globe to investigate and understand SARS-CoV-2 infection and will allow for development of new medicines with improved accuracy and efficiency when reaching clinical stages. The technology, know-how and information obtained from this research will aid in the global fight against the spread of the virus.