Development of "miniature human heart"

   
 

       Xinjing news (reporter) On november 26th the international stem cell biotechnology company, reheart biotechnology (hereafter referred to as reheart), announced that it would work with astrazeneca to develop the worldundefineds first human-only extracorporeal ejection fraction-reserved heart failure (hfpef) functional model to provide unique solutions for future evaluation of new therapies.

      Heart failure is a global disease with an estimated 64.3 million cases in 2017, with an upward trend in prevalence. HFpEF, which accounts for about half of heart failure cases, is particularly common in the elderly and female population, and the prevalence of heart failure in women over the age of 80 is close to 10%. because of the complex etiology of hfpef, the medical community knows little about its pathological mechanism, and the available disease models (including various animal models) are not ideal for simulating the clinical manifestations of hfpef. thus, drug developers lack effective tools for preclinical testing of the efficacy of candidate drugs, and the clinical results of hfpef have not improved in the past decades, and there is a lack of effective therapies available.

      Recardiac collaboration with the aslican cardiovascular, renal, and metabolic therapy departments. the initial goal is to develop a new in vitro model to reproduce the key phenotypic features of hfpef using the exclusive 3-d human ventricular cavity (hvcoc) technique of reheart. Hvcoc, also known as the "human heart-in-a-jar," is the only man-engineered heart tissue on the market so far capable of evaluating the performance of human heart pumps, including ejection fraction and formation pressure. artificial hvcoc differs from animal models and can be constructed using specific cell and matrix components as well as patient-specific human-induced pluripotent stem cells (ipsc), enabling the physical and mechanical properties of the model to be artificially controlled to mimic what is observed in the heart of patients with hfpef. the model, combined with novoheart proprietary hardware and software, aims to provide a unique analytical approach to uncover the pathological mechanisms of hfpef, identify new therapeutic targets, and evaluate novel therapies for treating patients with hfpef. rexin has exclusive intellectual property rights to the newly developed hfpefhv coc model. the

      Aslycan side indicated that creating the first in vitro model that reproduces the phenotypic characteristics of hfpef would bridge the gap between in vivo models in animals and clinical trials, accelerating the drug discovery process by providing preclinical data applicable to humans.