Pharmaceutical testing has evolved itself from traditional way of animal testing and towards an economical and more efficient way of testing technology.
LiverChip Technology is the most sought after pharmaceutical testing available in the market. Nowadays, it’s buzzing everywhere due to various reasons like provision for creating an alternative model for 3D cell culture platform that resembles the architecture and physiology of the human liver and potential to improve early stage drug testing because it drastically reduces the cost involved in live animal testing. LiverChip requires a minimum investment of $22,000 for testing a drug as opposed to traditional way of testing that incurs $50,000 for 28 days with 40 rodents, and further touches $1 million for complex experiments.
This artificial liver could also prove to be a more effective method of drug testing. Companies such as Benitec Pharma is relying on LiverChip technology in order to search and cure for hepatitis B, a disorder that doesn’t naturally occur on animals.
Similarly, the Federal Government of the US under the Department of Defence is reportedly spending upwards of $36 million funding for the research & development of a “human on a chip” in collaboration between Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University. This project is to feature 10 artificial organs working in tandem, allowing researchers to understand what side effects may emerge from a specific medication.
However, despite the government’s enthusiastic support of this technology, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are still cautious of these alternative models of testing.
