Efferent Labs, Inc., a medical technology and device company, entered into a multiyear agreement with Evotec AG to develop Efferent’s CytoComm™ Living Biosensor System.
The platform is a wireless cellular response monitoring system that allows clinicians to reduce the handling of animals while testing drugs.
(Credit: Efferent Labs Inc.)
An implant is placed inside an animal, such as a mouse that is genetically engineered to model human disease. This allows the clinician the monitor the mouse for any side effects and toxicity issues while being exposed to a drug without having to be in direct contact with the animal for analysis. The implant is designed with radio frequency identification (RFID) tag and reader used to keep track of the mouse. A receiving device is placed near the mouse to read and gather the live data. It is transmitted through the cloud platform, providing researchers and clinicians information in real time.
The system can be used for chemotherapy treatment in humans to provide oncologists with real-time information about the patient’s physiological conditions. When oncologists receive this data, they can make better decisions for prescribing chemotherapy treatment.
As shown above, Efferent Labs’ technology is designed to allow doctors to tailor a course of chemotherapy to the patient that should eliminate the dramatic swings in the administration of medication, and enable as never before, a scenario where a more consistent “just right” level of chemotherapy is possible. (Credit: Efferent Labs Inc.)
The device can also be implanted in at-risk cardiac patients. Biomarkers like epinephrine and troponin exist in our bodies to detect substances that can indicate heart failure before a patient gets sick and heart failure occurs. The implant can monitor the biomarkers and send a signal to a device alerting the patient to take medication. It can also tell devices like pacemakers to speed up or slow down.
“The development will focus on the optimization and validation of targeted pathways, leveraging Evotec’s state-of-the-art capability platforms and its expertise in cell biology, pathway modeling, and in vivo pharmacology,” according to a statement from Efferent Labs Inc.
“This technology represents the first implantable biosensor to integrate living cells to detect, process, and monitor complex intracellular processes,” according to Spencer Rosero, Chief Medical Officer of Efferent. “The platform provides a powerful tool to facilitate wireless, high-definition mapping and monitoring of target pathways, allowing researchers to leverage data analytics in real-time.”
