Abstract

Maximizing the Impact of Microphysiological Systems with In vitro–In vivo Translation

Murat Cirit, Director of Translational Center of Tissue Chip Technologies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

A large percentage of drug candidates fail at the clinical trial stage due to a lack of efficacy and unacceptable toxicity, primarily because the in vitro cell culture models and in vivo animal models commonly used in preclinical studies provide limited information about how a drug will affect human physiology. The need for more physiologically relevant in vitro systems for preclinical efficacy and toxicity testing has led to a major effort to develop “Microphysiological Systems (MPS)”, aka tissue chips (TC), based on engineered human tissue constructs.
 
Microphysiological systems  hold promise for improving therapeutic drug approval rates by providing more physiological, human-based, in vitro assays for preclinical drug development activities compared to traditional in vitro and animal models. The full impact of MPS technologies will be realized only when robust approaches for in vitro–in vivo (MPS-to-human) translation are developed and utilized, and explain how the burgeoning field of quantitative systems pharmacology (QSP) can fill that need.