CN Bio, an organ-on-a-chip systems startup, has been awarded £180k in grant funding from Innovate UK. Delivered in partnership with the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs), the funding supports new approach methodologies (NAMs) for use in drug development, aligning with the UK Government's roadmap to reduce dog and non-human primate (NHP) use in pharmacokinetic (PK) studies 35% by 2030.
Bioengineered microphysiological systems (MPS) sit at the centre of the CN Bio portfolio, recreating key aspects of human tissue biology to deliver decision-ready insights across drug safety, efficacy and PK analyses. Standardised discovery and development workflows built around those systems de-risk pipelines with earlier, more confident decision-making, helping to reduce reliance on animal testing in pharmaceutical research.
Despite significant advances in NAMs, including laboratory and in silico methods, predicting drug behaviour in humans remains a key challenge. The pharmaceutical industry therefore continues to rely on animal studies to generate PK data on compound absorption, clearance and systemic exposure. Often conducted in dogs and non-human primates, these studies are costly, low throughput and offer poor translatability to human outcomes, a gap recognised in the Government's November 2025 roadmap.
The Innovate UK-funded project will explore the development and validation of a standardised workflow for human-relevant PK studies, building on the established dual-organ PhysioMimix Gut/Liver MPS. Mechanistic data generated within the MPS will be used to derive a range of PK parameters, which are then integrated with in silico physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modelling to translate mechanistic insights into clinically interpretable predictions within a single workflow. A feasibility study will look at incorporating a kidney model to estimate renal clearance and other excretion-related processes, while the practicality and impact of introducing liquid handling automation will be explored to improve throughput, reproducibility and suitability for routine use. Contract research organisations will partner on the work to define the technical and operational requirements for adoption.
We're proud to have been selected for this project by Innovate UK, an exciting opportunity to advance the UK Government target to reduce dedicated PK studies using dogs or non-human primates by 35%. Understanding pharmacokinetics is crucial to determining a drug candidate's efficacy and potential side effects, and this project represents a valuable new route to unlock earlier, human-relevant insights into drug disposition – ultimately supporting faster, more effective drug development.
