INVITROHEART - Reducing Animal Experimentation in Drug Testing by Human Cardiomyocyte In Vitro Models Derived from Embryonic Stem Cells (Life sciences, genomics and biotechnology for health) (2007-01-01 - 2009-12-31)(»add to infobox)
ACRONYM:
INVITROHEART
BUDGET:
4.423.860 €
FUNDING:
2.701.610 €
INSTRUMENT:
Specific Targeted Research Project
PROGRAMME:
Life sciences, genomics and biotechnology for health
The objective of the proposal is to establish stable cell lines that reliably reflect human cardiomyocyte properties by the development of models derived from human embryonic stem cells. The aim is to deliver reliable in vitro models that could be used by the pharmaceutical industry to replace experimental animals in: (1) investigations on pharmacological toxicity and safety of compounds in the drug discovery and development processes, and (2) the testing of toxic effects of chemicals according to the new system of the Community on the Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH). In the pharmaceutical industry reliable in vitro cell models would contribute to replace current techniques with animal experimentation in the selection and optimisation of lead compounds and in documentation of a selected drug candidate before it enters clinical phases. In the toxicity testing of chemical substances replacement of animal testing methods can be attained as well. The means to accomplish the objective are in addition to new stable human embryonic stem (hES) cell derived cardiomyocytes, (1) state of the art methods for electrophysiological cardiac cell monitoring, (2) optical micro-sensor monitoring in micro-cultivation systems for in vitro screening, (3) a multi-micro-bioreactor platform for high-throughput screening of drugs and chemicals. Comparative studies of cardiomyocytes derived from hES cells with established in vitro models will be carried out in order to validate the new models and methods. The outcome of the project is new efficient in vitro pre-validation models which will significantly reduce animal experimentation for cardiotoxicity testing by 60-80%. Furthermore, it will strengthen the possibility for the participating SMEs to market new potential products in the areas of in vitro assay methods and in vitro compound screening. The SMEs part in this proposal is substantial and the share of the requested budget for the SMEs is 59%.
