Organs on a chip

Organ-on-a-chip instead of drug tests on animals and humans

The traditional way to test medical drugs is to test their safety and effectiveness, first in animals and then in volunteers. Clinical trials are a long, expensive and strictly regulated process. But even with all precautions, accidents sometimes occur.

One of the most famous occurred in 2006 in Britain during the testing of the drug TGN1412 for the treatment of leukemia and autoimmune diseases. According to the trial protocol, two volunteers received a placebo, and six received one five-hundredth dose of the drug, which had previously been successfully tested on animals. An hour later, the subjects felt bad: they were tormented by suffocation attacks, vomiting, fever, headache and muscle pain, they began to lose consciousness, and two volunteers fell into a coma. They developed severe edema, and one patient became so swollen that journalists dubbed him an elephant man. Fortunately, all the participants in the experiment were then saved, but their health was seriously damaged.

Later it turned out that the cause of the tragedy was the presence in humans of a subpopulation of immune cells with specific receptors that animals do not have. They were the ones who caused the cytokine storm instead of controlling the immune response and relieving inflammation. This was impossible to assume during the clinical trial phase. However, British scientists still made one gross mistake: they administered the drug to all patients at once, instead of administering it sequentially with an interval of two hours. In this case, only one subject could become a victim of the tragedy.

But even when testing is successful, there is a problem in clinical trials: most often, adults without serious health problems (except for the underlying disease) become participants. And in the end, everyone may need to take the medicine: children, pregnant women, older people and patients with chronic diseases. For different groups of people, different dosages are needed that need to be calculated correctly. In addition, there are individual reactions of the body: allergies or other features. Even with a low probability of side effects, for example 0.1%, there will be one victim for every thousand people.

To solve all these obstacles, technologies called organ-on-chip were developed.

History

2025: Placenta-on-a-chip will explore the causes of complications in late pregnancy

Biologists from the Higher School of Economics together with researchers from the National Medical Research Center of the AGP named after V.I. Kulakov use microfluidic technologies to study pre-eclampsia. This dangerous complication affects about 8% of all pregnancies in the world. Preeclampsia begins to manifest itself only in late pregnancy - most often with high blood pressure, protein in the urine and impaired organ function. Despite decades of research, the exact causes of the disease remain not fully studied, but scientists believe that the origins should be sought at the stage of placental formation. The HSE announced this on August 18, 2025. Read more here.

2024: The global organ-on-a-chip market exceeded $154 million for the year

At the end of 2024, spending on the global Organ-on-a-chip market reached $154.1 million. More than 40% of this amount fell on the North American region. Such data are provided in a Fortune Business Insights study, the results of which were published on November 20, 2025.

An "organ-on-a-chip" is a miniature microfluidic device designed to grow a variety of cell cultures. It consists of microcontainers and microchannels that mimic the living body's environment, including blood flow, nutrient and oxygen delivery. Such products help to study the work and response of living tissues to various physical conditions, stimuli, chemical compounds, etc. Tiny "organs on a chip" allow for more realistic modeling of organ functions, which is not possible with traditional methods.

Biotech and pharmaceutical companies are increasingly adopting "organs on a chip" due to their advantages over standard approaches, the study notes. These devices recreate three-dimensional tissue structure and microenvironment to more accurately model diseases. When developing new drugs, "organs on a chip" make it possible to test the effectiveness and toxicity of compounds at the preclinical stage, which speeds up research and reduces costs. Potentially toxic substances can be identified in the early stages, thereby minimizing the risks of failure in later stages of clinical trials. In addition, this approach reduces or completely eliminates the need for animals to be used in research.

Analysts call the growth in demand for personalized and precision medicine another driver of the industry. Organ-on-a-chip technology paves the way for patient-specific disease models through the ability to use their cells. This contributes to the development of personalized treatment approaches. In particular, various types of therapy can be tested to select the most effective course for a particular person. "Organs on a chip" can be used to model rare diseases, as well as to test biomaterials for compatibility and effectiveness.

Artificial intelligence has a stimulating effect on the market. Neural networks help in predictive modeling of human pharmacokinetics and disease progression. AI algorithms allow you to assess the effectiveness of drugs and the possible negative impact on the human body with greater accuracy than traditional methods. In addition, AI is used to create complex models that simulate the work of organs.

Analysts segment the industry into products (devices, consumables and accessories) and services. In 2024, the lion's share of revenue - more than 50% - was provided by the second direction. In terms of application, the development of drugs, toxicological studies, modeling of diseases, etc., are distinguished. The first of these segments dominates. From a geographical point of view, North America leads, which accounted for 44.6%, or $68.8 million. Major industry players on a global scale are:

• Emulate;
• Mimetas B.V.;
• InSphero;
• SynVivo;
• CN Bio Innovations;
• TissUse;
• Bico;
• AlveoliX AG;
• BiomimX S.r.l.;
• AIM Biotech.

In 2025, the volume of the "organs on a chip" market is expected to reach $210.4 million. Fortune Business Insights analysts believe that in the future, the CAGR will be about 30%. Thus, by 2032, costs may increase to $1.32 billion.^[1]

2020: Development of a drug dosing chip in MIET

On March 23, 2020, the company RVC announced Zdrav.Expert that the scientists of the Competence Center on the NTI basis MIET developed a chip in the form of a microfluidic pump for dispensing drugs. The development will reduce the cost of research and speed up the development of drugs and does not require animal research. More. here