Looking back at 2024 – Product innovations, international presence and pioneering partnerships

We are looking back at 2024, a year where we started dipping our toes into overseas water and launched some exciting new products. We were amazed by the excitement we were met with at our first conferences and meetings in the United States and we are looking forward to what the next year will bring. Join us in looking back at 2024 and get a sneak-peek at what’s upcoming in 2025.

Product launch: DynamicOrgan System and Developers Kit

In summer 2024, we successfully established our new DynamicOrgan System on the market. The open organ-on-chip solution makes it possible to develop human in-vitro disease and infection models. The system can be easily used with standard laboratory equipment without high investment costs and offers a scalable solution for sample numbers and tissue complexity. Thanks to comprehensive training options, users can get started quickly. The market launch was met with great response on social media, at events such as this year’s MPS World Summit in Seattle and by the scientific community.

Mini-organs, big impact: our research at a glance

Biomedical research and drug discovery need human models that are equally physiological as well as are cost-effective. We have set out to meet exactly this with our DynamicOrgan System. Our organ-on-chip models realistically simulate human organ functions by including a vasculature, multi-cellular tissues set up, microbiome and immune cells.

The latter was part of our education series during summer, where we highlighted the importance of immunocompetent organ models in series of articles. These models enable more realistic disease modeling, especially for autoimmune diseases, cancer and chronic inflammation, and make a decisive contribution to improving drug development. Particularly noteworthy is our colitis-on-chip model, which is being used in several studies on inflammatory bowel diseases. As well as our range of infection models that greatly benefit from the incorporation of immune cells.

Towards the end of the year, we highlighted a new application for biochips, whereby spheroids are combined with on-chip models. Spheroid-on-chip models provide valuable insights into processes such as metastasis and angiogenesis and delivers new therapeutic approaches in cancer research. These advances open up new possibilities for more precise preclinical testing and could significantly advance the development of personalized cancer therapies.

In close cooperation with the Hans Knöll Institute and Jena University Hospital, we have published an intestinal chip candidiasis model that faithfully reproduces the interactions between the fungus Candida albicans and human tissue – including attachment, penetration and distribution in the tissue. For this outstanding publication, our PhD student Tim Kaden, together with his research colleagues and co-authors Parastoo Akbarimoghaddam and Raquel Alonso Román, was awarded the “Siegfried Czapski Publication Prize 2024”.

Thanks to tireless efforts of R&D team, we realized numerous other scientific publications this year. In our most recent studies, we dealt with highly complex biological processes. For example, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of acute liver damage caused by drugs in patients with fatty liver disease. With our innovative organ-on-chip models, we also gained in-depth insights into the immune defense of the lung and were able to decipher the complex interactions between the intestine and the immune system in inflammatory bowel disease. In addition, we have developed an organ-on-chip platform that simulates the influence of the intestine and liver on drug metabolism in order to facilitate the development of new drugs.

Launch of the Dynamic42 Online Academy

With the Dynamic42 Online Academy we have created an open e-learning platform to make knowledge about organ-on-chip technology accessible worldwide. The platform offers structured courses that guide users through the creation and application of their own organ models – anytime and anywhere. The course content teaches the basics in organ-on-chip technology. Biochip sterilization and coating, cell seeding, pump connections and the set-up of a perfused or static organ model. Participants receive a certificate upon successful completion of the course. The Online Academy offers an affordable alternative to lab-based courses and is particularly useful for researchers outside central technology hubs.

International presence – Our conference highlights

The combination of challenging research projects and the associated trips to international conferences in cities such as Salt Lake City, Milan, Basel and Stockholm not only broadened our professional horizons, but also strengthened us as a team and created many unforgettable memories. At the MPS World Summit in Seattle, we presented our organ-on-chip technology in a hands-on workshop. The great interest shown by the participants underlined the relevance of the technology for modern drug research. Our co-founders and CEOs Knut Rennert and Martin Raasch took part in the Whitehead Institute Vendor Fair in Cambridge (MA). There they introduced our immunocompetent models and gave live demos of our DynamicOrgan System, to customers in the Boston area.

At the AMR conference in Basel, we demonstrated our commitment to combating antimicrobial resistance: Our presentation of innovative infection models opened new perspectives for the development of effective antibiotics. The SOT Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City provided an excellent platform to discuss the latest advances in toxicology and drug development. We presented models for testing of drug-induced-liver toxicity and demonstrated how organ models could be employed for prediction of immune-related antibody-induced toxicity. Our business development manager Georg Machnik took the opportunity to make numerous contacts and develop new cooperation opportunities at BIO-Europe in Stockholm, the largest partnering event in the life science sector. At the annual EUROoCS meeting in Milan, our DynamicOrgan System and scientific contributions on colitis, liver and brain therapy met with great interest. The non-profit organization EUROoCS promotes organ-on-chip research and the exchange of knowledge in this field in order to improve health.

New partnership: working together for innovative drug development

We continued to expand our partnerships with leading players in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry this year. We entered into an important collaboration with the French manufacturer Biopredic International to jointly market in-vitro systems for drug development. Our state-of-the-art organ-on-chip models, in combination with Biopredic’s high-performance HepaRG™ cells, enables a realistic simulation of human organ functions and thus accelerates drug development. A highlight of this collaboration was a webinar in which our CEO and co-founder Knut Rennert spoke about the “Evaluation of drug-induced liver toxicity in a 3D HepaRG™-based microphysiological human liver model”.

Progress in the ATHANA and iDEA-iTECH project

One year after the successful launch of the ATHANA project, we can look back at a productive phase. At the consortium’s first strategy workshop, which took place at the Leibniz-HKI in Jena, we presented the status of research together with our partners and discussed the next steps for the development of nanoparticle-based antifungal therapies. It was particularly pleasing that we reached all milestones within the specified timeframe and that a lively exchange was established between the ATHANA partners.

In order to better understand the complex pharmacokinetic processes of drugs, we launched a project in 2023 funded by the Sanofi iDEA-iTECH Award. We have made considerable progress, particularly in analyzing the pharmacokinetic properties of therapeutics in our liver-on-chip model. The focus is on the development of state-of-the-art biochip models. We presented the positive initial results at both the MPS World Summit in Seattle and the EUROoCS in Milan confirming the value of our technology in overcoming the species-specific limitations of animal models.

New faces at the Dynamic42 team

Last but not least, we welcomed some new faces to our team, strengthening our ever-growing interdisciplinary team of experienced scientists and talented young professionals. Joanna Nowacka, who joined us after her PhD at Miltenyi Biotec, leads Dynamic42 in the development of stem-cell-based organ models. Senior Scientist Dr. Japhette Kembou-Ringert, enriches our team as an experienced virologist. With her expertise in the development of infection models, she contributes to research into respiratory diseases. As a Master’s student, Amélie Marie Paillereau is developing perfused on-chip models to better understand the growth and response of breast and pancreatic tumors. Mari Kakihara supports our finance department with her expertise in finance and controlling. With this diverse team, we are well positioned for the future.

Promising projects also await us next year: one highlight will be the Advanced Academy Course and the launch of a new product at SOT 2025 in Orlando. We are also planning new webinars and guest contributions with associations such as Pro Anima, an organization campaigning for animal welfare and alternatives to animal experimentation. We look forward to working with our partners and customers in the coming year to create innovative solutions for an animal-free future.

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