Organoids and Organs-on-Chips Forum at Future Healthcare 100 Summit Charts Course for Clinical Translation and Industrial Scaling

On May 7, the Organoids and Organs-on-Chips Forum of the “7th Future Healthcare 100 Conference,” hosted by VCBeat, VB100, and Eggshell Research Institute, co-hosted by VCBeat New Medicine, and supported by GTJA Investment, was successfully held.

Over the past year, domestic organoid and organ-on-a-chip companies have attracted significant attention from the capital market, with continuous financing activities. Meanwhile, the industry has entered the “2.0 era” of technological development and application, pursuing high-throughput, standardization, automation, and integration with other technologies. Since the second half of 2022, Arterial New Medicine and VCBeat have interviewed and reported on multiple organoid and organ-on-a-chip companies, witnessing the industry’s rapid progress over the past year. As a result, the Future Healthcare Top 100 Conference has established the Organoid and Organ-on-a-Chip Forum for the first time.

The forum invited representative companies and investment institutions from the fields of organoids and organ-on-a-chip to participate, attracting numerous professionals from innovative enterprises, financial institutions, and healthcare organizations. Below are the key highlights from the guest speeches and roundtable discussions on Day 7, compiled by VCBeat New Medicine:

The forum is produced by VCBeat and VBInsight.《White Paper on the Organoid and Organ-on-a-Chip Industry》VCBeat Research Institute has conducted in-depth research on nearly 50 representative companies in the global organoid and organ-on-a-chip industry, and held extensive discussions with numerous core executives and industry investors in China, to present the most authentic picture of the industry’s current development.Chen Xuanhe, Researcher at VCBeat Eggshell InstituteThis article traces the reasons behind the surging market interest in organoids and organ-on-a-chip technologies, and provides a brief overview of the current development status of this sector from the perspectives of the industry chain, commercialization efforts, application scenarios, and regulatory standardization.

Kuang Yao, Senior Industry Researcher at GTJA InvestmentConducted《Organ-on-a-Chip: The Future Is Here》It is pointed out that the organ-on-a-chip market is projected to reach $2.1 billion by 2026, with a certain industrial chain taking shape in commercialization. However, the development of organ-on-a-chip technology in China remains in its early stages and faces a series of challenges. In addition to the scarcity of cell sources and manufacturing materials, there is a lack of automation and standardization. Furthermore, China currently lacks established standards, primarily because organ-on-a-chip technologies are not standardized and their assays are highly specific, precluding cross-platform comparisons and limiting evaluations to internal controls only. Therefore, standardized third-party testing institutions are needed to establish unified standards.

Yi Sun, Senior Scientist of In Vitro Modeling at Crown BioscienceIntroduction“Construction of Tumor Organoid Biobanks and Their Related Applications”Crown Bioscience employs HUB culture technology to establish organoids. From the same patient, tumor organoids can be derived from tumor tissue, while normal organoids can be established from adjacent normal tissue, forming paired organoid models. These pairs enable the evaluation of drug toxicity and off-target effects during in vitro efficacy assessment. To date, Crown Bioscience has constructed over 600 tumor organoid models. The first major category is PDXO (Patient-Derived Xenograft Organoids), comprising 390 models across 15 cancer types. The other source is PDO (Patient-Derived Organoids), which currently covers six major cancer types, with four additional cancer types including controls from healthy individuals.

Song Chen, Senior Researcher at Huayi Regenerativeconducted"Organoid Drug Sensitivity Testing Facilitates Precision Oncology Treatment"This report, themed around the application of organoids in precision therapy for breast cancer, highlights their critical role. Breast cancer is characterized by high incidence and mortality rates, and its treatment often leads to challenges such as drug resistance, recurrence, metastasis, and the emergence of new mutations. Current neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer aims to shrink tumors prior to surgery, thereby reducing surgical trauma and meeting the need for breast-conserving therapy. This approach provides an excellent entry point for organoid-based drug sensitivity testing. While preoperative core needle biopsies are performed for pathological diagnosis, a portion of the biopsy sample can be allocated for organoid culture and drug sensitivity testing. Currently, we can generate drug sensitivity test reports within 14 days of sample acquisition. After receiving clinical pathological results, physicians determine chemotherapy regimens based on empirical experience. This allows for comparison between the clinical outcomes of empirical treatment and the organoid drug sensitivity results. Furthermore, if the initial chemotherapy proves ineffective, the organoid drug sensitivity results can serve as a reference for selecting subsequent therapeutic options. Dr. Song Chen pointed out that the current trend in pharmaceutical development is shifting from a “one-size-fits-all” approach to personalized medicine. As personalized “patient avatars” for drug testing, organoid-based drug sensitivity assays not only deliver precise benefits to patients but also accumulate valuable data that can be compared with clinical outcomes. These data are highly valuable. Ultimately, we hope to integrate biobanking to assist pharmaceutical companies in drug R&D, preclinical testing, and patient screening for clinical trial enrollment.

Lu Zhenghao, R&D Director of Organoids at Jingke BiologicsShared"Exploring the Application of Organoids in Drug Development"Jingke Bio is dedicated to advancing the innovative application of organoid technology in fields such as precision medicine and drug development. Currently, Jingke Bio has established a relatively comprehensive technical platform system, primarily encompassing platforms for organoid modeling and drug sensitivity testing, organoid-based drug discovery and development, development of organoid-related products and equipment, and development of new organoid technologies. Lu Zhenghao pointed out that technological advancements bring new breakthrough opportunities, and the integration of organoid technology with AI computing, multi-omics technologies, library screening technologies, and gene editing technologies will accelerate new drug development. The report highlights the work of Jingke Bio’s scientific team in leveraging its organoid technology platform for drug development.

In early-stage drug discovery, starting with the identification of novel therapeutic targets for cancer, a new approach has emerged that combines organoid models and gene-editing technologies to simulate tumorigenesis, thereby facilitating the identification and validation of potential drug targets. This strategy can also be applied to drug development for non-oncological diseases. Phenotypic screening based on organoid model libraries offers the advantage that the identified targets are directly relevant to the biological models, enabling the simultaneous discovery of multiple potentially effective drug candidates. Jingke Bio and its collaborators have achieved significant progress and results across various clinical oncology indications and are currently accelerating their translation into clinical applications.

In the field of preclinical drug evaluation using organoid models, Jingke Biotechnology showcased practical application cases across various stages and scenarios of drug development, including the use of patient-derived organoid models for evaluating antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), immunotherapies, and drug-induced hepatorenal toxicity. Lu Zhenghao emphasized that suitable organoid models, a diverse drug library, and robust experimental protocols are core elements for conducting organoid-based drug development.

The first roundtable was hosted byWang Xuebin, Application Technology Manager, Corning Life Sciences ChinaHost, andZhou Yu, CEO of Big Oak Technology; Yang Xi, Founder and CEO of Suzhou Nuopu Regenerative Medicine Co., Ltd.; Chen Zongzheng, Founder and General Manager of Xirui Biology; Song Guangqi, Founder of Puheng Technology, andYi Sun, Senior Scientist of In Vitro Modeling at Crown BioscienceChatted freely"Current Status of Organoid Technology and Standardization"。

The rapid advancement of technologies such as organoids, microfluidics, novel biomaterials, AI-driven data analytics, and automated manufacturing is occurring on a near-daily basis. The integration of these technologies will yield more mature assay solutions and more accurate experimental results. Importantly, technological development is embedded within the expansion of application scenarios, with the integrated application of these technologies across various fields yielding innovative outcomes. In this process, companies within the industry are also striving to promote standardization that is recognized by regulators, end-users, and other stakeholders.

Scene 2"How Organ-on-a-Chip Technology Facilitates Drug Development"Themed Roundtable: An In-Depth Discussion on the Technology and Commercial Applications of Organ-on-a-Chip. This roundtable is moderated byDong Ni, Senior Industry Researcher at GTJA InvestmentHost, andMin Zhen, President of Zizhan Biotech; Han Yue, Investment Manager at WuXi BioInnovation Center,andYuan Zhenhuan, Senior Manager at Yijingtong Optical TechnologyJoint participation.

Organ-on-a-chip technology did not emerge out of thin air; it was developed to provide models with greater physiological relevance and complexity for drug discovery and evaluation. This background defines its application scenarios, offering evaluation tools for complex drugs and diseases. The high expectations placed on organ-on-a-chip technology stem from the increasing complexity of modern therapeutics, such as nucleic acid drugs, which are designed and developed based on human RNA sequences, rendering animal studies largely inadequate. Meanwhile, market demand for solutions targeting complex conditions, including central nervous system disorders and fatty liver disease, is growing. It is undeniable that drug development has entered a challenging phase, with the industry seeking breakthroughs. By leveraging novel technologies like organ-on-a-chip, domestic pharmaceutical companies can transition from extensive to refined R&D approaches. To some extent, it is essential for Chinese pharmaceutical enterprises to pay closer attention to and deepen their understanding of organ-on-a-chip technology amid significant shifts in the technological and regulatory landscapes, and to actively embrace these new innovations.