Organovo Sponsors Pioneering Research With Amgen and Medikine in Critical Areas of Liver and Kidney Disease
23 August 2017 - 10:05PM
Organovo Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ONVO) (“Organovo”) today announced
it has awarded the 2017 ExVive 3D Tissue Application Award to
researchers at Amgen, Inc and Medikine, Inc. The program is
designed to explore new applications using Organovo’s ExVive Liver
and Kidney Tissues in collaboration with biopharmaceutical
partners. The Company had many applicants for its awards,
with the winners submitting the two most creative and novel
proposals with the aim of bridging preclinical and clinical
research. The projects will be performed by Organovo and
include comprehensive studies and data analysis.
“Amgen consistently works to develop improved in vitro models
that can more accurately predict potential safety issues before an
investigational medicine ever reaches the clinic,” said Cindy
Afshari, vice president, Comparative Biology and Safety Sciences,
Amgen. “Current in vitro models lack the sensitivity to detect
drug-induced fatty liver, a common reason drugs fail in clinical
development, due to a variety of technical limitations. We look
forward to collaborating with Organovo to further explore the
utility of the ExVive Human Liver Tissue in addressing those
issues.”
“Genetic and biochemical evidence indicates that key
factors play a crucial role in the progression of renal fibrosis,
sclerosis and subsequent organ dysfunction,” said Bill Dower, chief
scientific officer of Medikine, Inc. “However, no therapeutic
agents based on these key pathways have been developed to treat
kidney disease. We are excited to be chosen for this
award. We believe the ExVive Kidney Tissue is an excellent
tool to study progression and reversal of fibrosis because of its
multicellular nature.”
Organovo continues to partner with industry leaders to target
attractive markets with critical unmet needs. Fatty liver
disease and renal fibrosis are critical research areas for the
Company’s clients, and customer demand for more predictive 3D
solutions is robust. For example, the Company’s solutions can
use both healthy and diseased cells in building bioprinted liver
tissues to model clinical pathologies of a disease. Organovo
is working to create ‘human preclinical models’ to enable earlier
insights in drug discovery. In addition, deteriorating liver
and kidney health around the world makes it critical to understand
how new and existing drugs perform in these expanding patient
populations. Accurately modeling these diseases will be
critical for our clients as they strive to assess the efficacy and
safety of their drugs in real-world populations, and the Company
believes regulators around the world will expect more
representative human studies before approving a new drug.
“We are pleased to support innovative applications using our
dynamic liver and kidney tissue systems,” noted Taylor J. Crouch,
CEO, Organovo. “Through our grant program, Organovo will work
closely with partners to design 3D tissue solutions in vital areas
of high-value drug profiling. These applications will support
the increased demand for translational in vitro models and benefit
a broader customer base.”
About Organovo Holdings,
Inc.Organovo designs and creates functional,
three-dimensional human tissues for use in medical research and
therapeutic applications. The Company develops 3D human
tissue models through internal development and in collaboration
with pharmaceutical, academic and other partners.
Organovo's 3D human tissues have the potential to accelerate
the drug discovery process, enabling treatments to be developed
faster and at lower cost. The Company’s ExVive Human Liver
and Kidney Tissues are used in toxicology and other preclinical
drug testing. The Company also actively conducts early
research on specific tissues for therapeutic use in direct surgical
applications. In addition to numerous scientific
publications, the Company’s technology has been featured
in The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, The Economist,
Forbes, and numerous other media outlets. Organovo is
changing the shape of life science research and transforming
medical care. Learn more
at www.organovo.com.
Forward-Looking Statements Any statements
contained in this press release that do not describe historical
facts constitute forward-looking statements as that term is defined
in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any
forward-looking statements contained herein are based on current
expectations, but are subject to a number of risks and
uncertainties. The factors that could cause the Company's
actual future results to differ materially from current
expectations include, but are not limited to, risks and
uncertainties relating to the Company's ability to develop, market
and sell products and services based on its technology; the
expected benefits and efficacy of the Company's products, services
and technology; the Company’s ability to successfully complete
studies and provide the technical information required to support
market acceptance of its products, services and technology, on a
timely basis or at all; the Company's business, research, product
development, regulatory approval, marketing and distribution plans
and strategies, including its use of third party distributors; the
Company's ability to successfully complete the contracts and
recognize the revenue represented by the contracts included in its
previously reported total contract bookings and secure additional
contracted collaborative relationships; the final results of the
Company's preclinical studies may be different from the Company's
studies or interim preclinical data results and may not support
further clinical development of its therapeutic tissues; the
Company may not successfully complete the required preclinical and
clinical trials required to obtain regulatory approval for its
therapeutic tissues on a timely basis or at all; and the Company’s
ability to meet its fiscal year 2018 outlook. These and other
factors are identified and described in more detail in the
Company's filings with the SEC, including its Annual Report on
Form 10-K filed with the SEC on June 7, 2017.
You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements, which speak only as of the date that they were
made. These cautionary statements should be considered with
any written or oral forward-looking statements that the Company may
issue in the future. Except as required by applicable law,
including the securities laws of the United States, the
Company does not intend to update any of the forward-looking
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later events or circumstances or to reflect the occurrence of
unanticipated events.
Investor Contact:
Steve Kunszabo
Organovo Holdings, Inc.
+1 (858) 224-1092
skunszabo@organovo.com
Press Contact:
Jessica Yingling
Little Dog Communications
+1 (858) 480-2411
jessica@litldog.com
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