National Science Foundation (NSF) awards Aracari Biosciences Phase II SBIR grant to commercialize the Vasoreactive Vascularized Micro-Organ (VMO-VA) platform

Aracari Biosciences is headquartered at University Lab Partners, the premier life science incubator, located in UCI Research Park and a 2021 Octane High Tech Awards Finalist.

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University Lab Partners

Sep 30, 2021, 06:00 ET

IRVINE, Calif., Sept. 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Aracari Biosciences, Inc. announces a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to commercialize its proprietary Vasoreactive Vascularized Micro-Organ (VMO-VA) platform. This VMO-VA allows for testing of new drugs in development for vasoactivity – the ability of a drug to cause blood vessels to dilate or constrict – either as a desirable goal or as a side-effect.

Cardiovascular toxicity accounts for one of the most common toxicity types associated with drug withdrawals in the United States and Europe. Since these failures are very costly, the pharmaceutical industry is eagerly seeking better testing systems with human-based, more physiologically, human-relevant, technologies, particularly in cardiac and vascular toxicities. "The VMO-VA platform allows for early testing of these effects in a fully-human platform," states Dr. Chris Hughes, Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Aracari Biosciences.

After successfully demonstrating that FDA-approved, vasoconstrictor and vasodilator drugs exhibit corresponding vasoactivity results in the VMO-VA, this new round of funding will focus on developing the platform for commercial use.

Aracari Biosciences is addressing the need to reduce drug costs by using its proprietary vascularized, fully-human microphysiological systems to de-risk and accelerate drug development. The Vascularized Micro-Organ (VMO) and Micro-Tumor (VMT) platforms provide earlier and more accurate assessments of safety and drug efficacy when compared to animal trials and other currently available methods. "We are very excited that the VMO-VA directly addresses a major focal pain point for pharmaceutical companies – identifying potentially anti-hypertensive drugs that work effectively in human and identifying unwanted vasoactivity in drugs being developed for other indications," says Dr. Steve George, Co-Founder of Aracari Biosciences.

About Aracari Biosciences, Inc.
Aracari's mission is to increase the success rate of pre-clinical trials and reduce the cost of drug development by using an advanced microphysiological platform of naturally-induced human vascularized tissues to predict drug reactions more accurately in humans.

About University Lab Partners
University Lab Partners (ULP) is a premier, nonprofit, wet lab incubator located in UCI Research Park in Irvine, CA. ULP is a professionally-managed and equipped wet lab facility along with the benefits of peer-to-peer interactions among a life science-focused entrepreneurial community.

SOURCE University Lab Partners