HemoShear LLC
This article was originally published in Start Up
Executive Summary
Only 10% of compounds that enter Phase I trials survive to FDA approval, and that has a lot to do with the inadequacy of early-stage research in cell lines. They are poor predictors of what will happen in animal models, much less in patients. The problem stems in part from the fact that cells, once removed from an organism and maintained artificially in a laboratory environment, change their behavior and phenotype in equally artificial ways, which in turn warp their response to drug candidates. HemoShear LLC's technology simulates a cell's natural environment by introducing hemodynamic blood flow and the accompanying shear stresses. Its first system focuses on blood vessels.
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