Leiden University researchers have developed “organs-on-a-chip” — hundreds of micro-organs mimicked on a chip, with microfluidic channels that emulate blood vessels — and spun off a company, Mimetas, to produce them.

The devices can be used to determine the efficacy and toxic side-effects of new medicines better and faster,  and eventually be used to select the best therapy for individual patients, based on direct testing of drugs on diseased cells, according to the researchers.

Mimetas is a Leiden-based microfluidics company focusing on high-throughput biomimetic 3D culture systems for predictive toxicology testing, efficacy screening and personalized therapy. It has received a 200 000 euro grant from the Dutch Technologiestichting STW for further development.