Eugene Consulting Inc.
111 St. Clair Ave W
Toronto, ONM4V 1N5

February/March 2020 ReportBill Gates talk at American Association for the Advancement of Science
https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2020/03/03/bill-gates-ai-gene-editing-could-help-usreach-global-health-goals-exponentially-faster/ - February 15, 2020
- During his keynote address at the annual meeting of the American Association for
the Advancement of Science, Bill Gates spoke about how advances in AI and gene
editing could accelerate improvement of the state of global healtho AI and gene editing will be key in to build a new generation of healthsolutions that are available to everyone- To fight malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases, CRISPR-Cas9 and other geneediting tools are being used to change the insects’ genome to ensure that they don't
pass along the parasites that cause those diseases
o The Gates Foundation is investing tens of millions of dollars in technologies
to spread such genomic changes rapidly through mosquito populations- For sickle-cell disease Gates’ vision is to have in-vivo gene editing techniques where
you do a single injection using vectors that target and edit blood-forming cells withhigh efficiencyo A similar in-vivo therapy could provide a “functional cure” for HIV patients- Gates stated that the computational power available for AI applications has been
doubling every 3 and a half months on average- Organ on a chip models – technology that allows in-vitro modeling of human organs
in a way that mimics how they work in the human bodyo A proposed model that would accelerate the pace of biomedical research,without putting human experimental subjects at risk
- The Gates Foundation has backed a number of organ-on-a-chip projects over theyearso Including an experiment that uses lymph-node organoids to evaluate thesafety and efficacy of vaccines- Nortis – a Seattle based organ-on-a-chip venture has gone commercial thanks in partto Gates’ support- However, if the acceleration of medical technologies does manage to happen aroundthe world, Gates also insists that could have repercussions – growing inequality
between the rich and pooro “Disease is not only a symptom of inequality but it’s a huge cause”

Eugene Consulting Inc.
111 St. Clair Ave WToronto, ONM4V 1N5Nortis
http://www.nortis.us
Company focus: opening the door to tissue-engineered microenvironmentsof humanorgans as an alternative to traditional in vitro tools and animal models in scientific researchand drug development- Nortis provides an efficient, affordable alternative to animal testing that canaccelerate research and advance scientific exploration- Their technology supports fluid flow, 3D tissue culture, and robust analysis in 1
scalable, user-friendly platform- Nortis innovation makes it easy to:o Engineer a variety of 3D tissue microenvironmentso Expose engineered tissues to flow and shear force via fluidic perfusiono Perform real-time visualization under variable conditionso Research human disease without relying on interspecies extrapolation
TechnologyParVivo Chips: Nortis’ unique microfluidic chips- About the size of a credit card and comes in different configurations for different
organ applicationso 1-3 experiments can be performed simultaneously- These chips are used for growing microscopic human organs by seeding cells into
tubular voids within extracellular matrix gelso 3D tubules are fully surrounded by matric allowing cells to self-organize intoin-vivo- like structures- Chip design offers the flexibility to generate a variety of tissue architectures basedon cell types and matrix materials selected- Each chip supports a wide range of readout methods including fluorescent
microscopy, effluent analysis, permeability studies, histology, and gene expression
analysis
ParVivo Perfusion System- Consists of 12 small perfusion platforms – each the size of a well plate- Each platform houses 1 ParVivo chip and supporting media reservoirs- A standard cell culture incubator can house up to 24 perfusion platforms- The ParVivo incubator gas pump powers the system and provides precise control offlow rates – the pump recirculates incubator air to maintain specific gas conditions
without any additional consumables

Eugene Consulting Inc.
111 St. Clair Ave W
Toronto, ON
M4V 1N5

Other Leading Players- Emulate- TissUse- Hesperos- CN Bio Innovations- Tara Biosystems- Draper Laboratory- Mimetas- Micronit Microtechnologies B.V.
- Kirkstall- Cherry Biotech SAS- Else Kooi Laboratory
Using “organs-on-a-chip” to model complicated diseases
http://news.mit.edu/2020/organ-on-microfluidic-chip-0318 - March 18, 2020
- MIT biological engineers have created a multi-tissue model that lets them study therelationships between different organs and the immune system, on a specialized
microfluidic platform seeded with human cells
o Using this, the research team was able to explore the role of circulating
immune cells in ulcerative colitis and other inflammatory diseases
o They also discovered that a metabolic byproduct generated by bacteria livingin the human gut plays an important role under these inflammatory
conditions- This leads to options to decrease or increase the level of disease complexity, undercontrolled and systematic conditions- Their approach was published in the journal Cell Systems
o Martin Trapecar, an MIT postdoc and lead author of the papero Linda Griffith – the School of Engineering Professor of Teaching Innovationand professor of biological engineering and mechanical engineering is asenior author of the study- In their paper in Cell Systems, Martin and Linda set out to model interactions
between two organs – the colon and the livero They also wanted to study how the immune system, especially T-cells,
influences those organs- They found that when these tissues were connected, their physiological behavior
completely changed as compared to when they are isolatedo Inflammation in ulcerative colitis gut tissue decreased when the tissue wasexposed to healthy liver cellso At the same time, genes and cellular pathways involved in metabolism andimmune function became more active in both organs

Eugene Consulting Inc.
111 St. Clair Ave W
Toronto, ON
M4V 1N5-o Additing 2 types of T cells to the system (CD4+ T regulatory cells and TH17cells) to the gut-liver interaction quickly increased inflammation andrecreated certain features of both IBD and autoimmune liver diseases
The new MIT study also found that adding SCFAs to the ulcerative colitis model
greatly exacerbated inflammation throughout the liver and gut, but only if T cells
were already present

Organ-chip platform enables new insights into human diseases and toxicity
mechanisms
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-03/tyn-ope031820.php - March 19, 2020
- Organs-on-Chips technology has entered the mainstream and reached 150
installations for use by researchers across many industries- The 150 installations include customers in 10 of the top 25 biopharmaceuticalcompanies and U.S. government laboratories- Organ-chips currently available for use in the lab-ready platform developed by
Emulate, Inc, = Liver-chip, kidney-chip, and new intestine-chip (launchedcommercially earlier this year)- Ongoing R&D is supporting the development of additional organ-chips such as thebrain-chip + new applications in key areas of biology and diseases (ex. applications
in neurodegenerative disease, gastrointestinal diseases, and infectious diseases suchas COVID-19)- Researchers can culture the organ-chips using Emulate’s portfolio of protocols,
enabling research to understand how the human body responds to disease,
medicines, chemicals, and foodso The lab-ready platform recreates key factors of the body’s dynamic cellular
microenvironment, including tissue-to-tissue interfaces, fluid flow, andmechanical forces- Emulate’s lab-ready platform allows researchers with no experience with organ-onchips to conduct studies, using the platform’s supporting protocols and software tocollect, analyze, and share datao This platform integrates into the workflows of researchers developing new
drugs and productso This can help them assess safety risks and make informed, efficient decisions
throughout the drug discovery and development process
Emulate’s platform includes:- Organ-chips that have a proprietary design to support dynamic cellular interactions
that mimic the appropriate microenvironment cells need for accurate biologicaltranslation

Eugene Consulting Inc.
111 St. Clair Ave W
Toronto, ON
M4V 1N5----

Zoe Culture Module – a lab-ready instrument that automates the dynamic flow of cell
culture media and the mechanical forces required for any user to work with organchips in a robust and reproducible mannero Can run up to 12 organ-chips at the same timeo Is powered by the Orb Hub Module which provides the precise required
mixture of gas, power, and vacuum stretch
Experimental applications content that provides users with protocols, study plans,
and representative data sets for specific applications of the platform
Software applications that enable study design and management, data analysis,
integration with standard analytical tools, and collaboration among teams using theplatform
Emulate’s lab-ready platform was inspired by a $37 million grant from the Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in 2012 to the Wyss Institute for
Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University to create organ-chipso This research enabled the development of chips with a level of humanrelevant biological complexity not feasible with conventional cell-based
systemso Based on the success of this early research, Harvard established a worldwide
license agreement to form the start-up company, Emulate (the company
became operational in January 2015)
Emulate’s platform could be used in other industries such as cosmetics, food,chemical-based consumer products, and personalized health, to allow newunderstanding of human response to products

Emulate Inc.
https://www.emulatebio.com- Emulate Inc, is a privately held company that creates living products forunderstanding how diseases, medicines, chemicals, and food affect human health- Their lab-ready platform provides a window into the inner workings of humanbiology and disease- Emulate’s proprietary organ-chips contains tiny hollow channels lined with tens of
thousands of living human cells and tissues and are about the size of an AA batteryo An organ-chip is a living, micro-engineered environment that recreates thenatural physiology and mechanical forces that cells experience within thehuman body
Organ-on-chips Market to growth speculation
https://www.whatech.com/market-research/industrial/641595-organ-on-chip-market-togrow-170-million-by-2023-cagr-of-63-2-according-to-a-new-research-reportEugene Consulting Inc.
111 St. Clair Ave W
Toronto, ONM4V 1N5-

The global organ-on-chip market was valued at $5 million in 2016 and is projected
to reach at $170 million by 2023
Heart-on-chip segment is anticipated to witness the highest growth rate during theforecast period
North America was the highest revenue contributor in the global market in 2016
Rise in demand for lung- and kidney-based organ culture devices is expected toboost the market growth
Asia-Pacific is anticipated to witness a significant growth rate during the forecastperiod

https://siliconcanals.com/news/british-cell-culture-company-funding/- Cambridge-based CN Bio Innovations = one of the leading bioengineering companies
specializing in innovative lab technologies
o Led by Dr. David Hugheso They aim to provide systems that generate clinically translatable data thatcan enhance the development of tomorrow’ medicines- Recently, CN Bio Innovations raised $9 million funding in a round led by CITIC
Securities Investment Co. Ltd.
o With this, they will focus on the commercial development of its products
o They also intend to strengthen its position in the U.S (its key market) andexpand operations across Europe