What the above means, in essence, is that the Finnish, Oulu-based startup simulates the human body’s physiology on a microfluidic device, where small tissue and organ fragments are grown for molecule and drug testing.

“The technology allows more human-like pre-clinical drug testing, fast repurposing of old drugs and, in the long term, development of personalized therapies and medicines,” explains Finnadvance’s CEO Prateek Singh.

Catch the future

Finnadvance has a vision where organ-on-chips will significantly speed the development of new drugs, as well as abolish the need for animals in drug development and toxin testing. The goal at Finnadvance is to create a body-on-a-chip which could be used to test medications and treatments before they are administered to a patient, says Singh.

“This way, performance of different medications and treatments could be tested in advance and the patient would receive only the best, most suitable medication. Selecting the right medication with organ- or body-on-chips both speeds up the process substantially and greatly improves the safety as well as patient outcomes,” says Singh, admitting that the concept may sound “futuristic”, but it’s closer than you might think.

“This can all be a reality in 10 years,” he believes.