Novoheart announces next generation of 'Human heart-in-a-jar' technology for advanced drug discovery

May 26 2018

Novoheart (“Novoheart” or the “Company”) today announced that the next generation of its ‘Human heart-in-a-jar’ technology - which makes up a key component of its comprehensive MyHeart^TM Platform - will be unveiled for the first time at the Annual Meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR), held in Melbourne, Australia from 20-23 June, 2018. The Annual Meeting is the flagship event of the professional society, where cutting-edge stem cell research will be presented to over 4,000 attendees which include notable scientists, innovators, industry representatives and media. Building on the world’s first and only ‘Human heart-in-a-Jar’ (otherwise known as the human ventricular Cardiac Organoid Chamber or hvCOC), developed by and exclusively available through Novoheart, the Company’s proprietary ‘Human heart-in-a-jar 2.0’ technology boasts substantially enhanced throughput, efficiency, sensitivity, and accuracy for advanced drug discovery.

The first-generation, fluid-ejecting, three-dimensional ‘Human heart-in-a-jar’ is the only technology on the market to date that enables the clinically informative assessment of human cardiac pump performance, such as cardiac output and ejection fraction, which no other engineered heart tissues on the market are capable of. Dr. Kevin Costa, CSO of Novoheart, will present to the attendees of the ISSCR Annual Meeting the new Human heart-in-a-jar 2.0, demonstrating its ability to deliver a >200-fold increase in efficiency, throughput, sensitivity and accuracy, compared to the first generation. This marked enhancement is achieved through a combination of custom-designed hardware and software developed to complement the best-in-class hvCOC biological construct.

With a new bioreactor design that allows precise temperature and environmental control, and simultaneous, 24-7 monitoring of multiple Heart-in-a-jar constructs, intermittent or infrequent, potentially fatal adverse side effects of drug compounds can be captured. Semi-automation of the testing procedures, with real-time visualization of data readouts, streamlines the measurement process and greatly reduces manpower requirement. Software developments enhance signal processing and enable efficient extraction of key parameters from the acquired data that can be immediately integrated with Novoheart’s established artificial intelligence technology, allowing the detection of drug toxicity and efficacy to the human heart in an unprecedented manner. In addition to modeling healthy human heart function, the versatility of the Human heart-in-a-jar has also been proven in effective disease models using patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells, presenting virtually unlimited choices for Novoheart’s clients that cannot be offered by animal-based testing.

“We are very excited about the second generation of the Human Heart-in-a-Jar technology that will allow us to further offer our clients industry-leading insight into the toxicity effects of drug candidates,” said Dr. Costa. “These latest enhancements further differentiate our MyHeart^TM Platform from other competing technologies.”