Novoheart in collaboration with AstraZeneca is developing a first-of-its-kind human heart-in-a-jar model of heart failure.
The first human-specific in-vitro functional model of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), will be created. HFpEF is a common condition especially among the elderly and in women.
HFpEF accounts for approximately 50 per cent of heart failure cases and is a major and growing public health problem worldwide.
Since its pathological mechanisms and diverse etiology are poorly understood, models of the disease have a limited ability to mimic the clinical presentation of HFpEF.
The drug developers, therefore, lack an effective tool for preclinical testing of drug candidates for efficacy, resulting in a lack of therapies.
Novoheart will use its 3-D human ventricular cardiac organoid chamber (hvCOC) technology that will be made from human stem cells to reproduce key phenotypic characteristics of HFpEF.
The technology is also known as "human heart-in-a-jar" is the only human-engineered heart tissue available on the market to date that enables clinically informative assessment of human cardiac pump performance including ejection fraction and developed pressure.
Unlike animal models, this model uses engineered hvCOCs that can be made with specific cellular and matrix compositions as well as patient-specific human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) that allow control over their physical and mechanical properties to better mimic those observed in HFpEF patients.
