Translating Organoid technology towards a Clinical Application
This project will prepare organoids as a cell product for liver disease patients as an alternative to donor livers. For this we will optimize upscaling protocols together with our private partner Scinus Cell Expansion BV, experts in cell expansion under controlled conditions. With the efficient production platforms from Scinus we can provide an innovative, controlled and cost-effective solution to automate the organoid culturing processes.
End-stage liver failure is a major healthcare challenge and accounts for approximately 2 million deaths per year worldwide. Liver transplantation is the only curative treatment for liver disease patients. Currently, less than 10% of global transplantation needs are met and the gap between patients on waiting lists and available donor organs is steadily increasing. TOCA proposes an alternative treatment for liver disease patients by combining advanced know-how in organoid-technology, automation and standardization.
TOCA will develop a value chain (from cell source, upscaling, post-processing to testing) allowing for early adoption of its results (product & process). By using organoids that can be isolated from a liver disease patient, together with supporting cells to create spheroids, we can optimize the development of an autologous cell product suitable for transplantation. To date, organoids cannot be expanded to clinical viable numbers and transplantation efficacy is extremely low. We can circumvent these bottlenecks by meticulously measuring organoid metabolism during large scale expansion and empirical testing of co-culture conditions to create microphysiological tissues. These microphysiological tissues or spheroids can be transplanted with higher efficacy in the future.
Our results will generate release criteria of the cell product, while creating clinically viable numbers of cells with our private partner Scinus. This project will be the first step in generating a viable alternative to donor organs in the future.
