Microphysiological (or “Body-on-a-Chip”) systems hold great promise to improve the selection of which drugs to take into human clinical trials.  An increase in success from order of 10% to 30% would provide society a significant increase in available drugs and potentially reduce the cost of drugs. Particularly important will be barrier tissues such as the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, and the Blood Brain Barrier (BBB), skin, lung, and kidney.  The skin, GI tract, and lungs control entry of drugs into the body.  The BBB is critical in treating brain disorders and is often the site of undesirable side effects when drugs are used to treat systemic conditions.  A common cause of drug failure is nephrotoxicity.  Thus models of barrier tissues that accurately predict transport of drugs across the barrier and potential disruption of the barrier are critical to selection of drugs and important constituents of whole body microphysiological models.

Barrier tissue mimics for drug development

255th National Meeting (2018)

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