CN Bio and the University of Melbourne collaborate to advance therapies for respiratory complications in recovered COVID-19 patients

CN Bio’s Lung-on-a-Chip technology will enable research into therapies to prevent interstitial lung disease and long-term lung impairment, following SARS-CoV-2 infection

CN Bio, a leading cell culture company, that has developed single and multi-organ microphysiological systems (MPS) to improve the accuracy and efficiency of drug discovery, today announced a collaboration with the University of Melbourne, focused on respiratory therapies for recovering COVID-19 patients. Harnessing CN Bio’s Organ-on-a-Chip technology, the aim of the research is to develop a model capable of recapitulating the fibrosis and tissue remodelling seen in chronic interstitial lung disease, often occurring following SARS-CoV-2 infection. Subsequently, the University will investigate anti-inflammatory, anti-fibrotic and anti-viral agents to treat patients.

For patients suffering from the chronic complications of COVID-19, many long-term health effects have been identified, including respiratory complications resulting from interstitial lung disease. Through the collaboration, CN Bio’s Sydney-based distributor, AXT, will provide the University of Melbourne access to the Company’s proprietary PhysioMimix™ Organ-on-Chip system, to create a more human-relevant COVID-infected lung culture than current in vitro standards that use monkey fibroblasts. Led by Professor Alastair Stewart, the research team will adopt the lung model to elicit physiologically comparable inflammation and cytokine responses following drug testing; to support development of novel therapies, aiming to prevent a second wave of late mortalities associated with the medium-term morbidity.

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