By Jacquelyn Melinek
NC Business News Wire
Altis Biosystems, a biotechnology company based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, has developed a patent-pending stem cell technology that recreates human intestinal tissues. The company’s goal is to make drug discovery, disease modeling and microbiome research faster, cheaper and safer. It also wants to reduce the need for animal testing by telling potential clients to “go with your gut.”
The company uses its organ on chip products to help produce layers of human or animal intestinal stem and differentiated cells, either of the small or large intestine.
“Basically what we are doing is using a plastic plate the size of your hand to grow intestinal stem cells directly from donor transplant organs,” CEO Michael Biron said. “This is important because the pharmaceutical industry is not able to culture intestinal stem cells to normal human tissue right now. They are using cancer cell lines and animal models, which are not physiologically relevant.”
Altis is a spin-out company from the Allbritton and Magness labs at UNC-Chapel Hill. After licensing the technology and process of culturing the cells from UNC-Chapel Hill, it has several patents and exclusive rights.
Altis was involved in KickStart Venture Services, a department within the UNC-CH Office of Technology Commercialization. The venture service supports faculty startup formation, business development, and growth by providing coaching and mentoring, early-stage funding, connection with key service providers, management, investors, and space.
Read the full story via the North Carolina Business News Wire, a service of the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Media and Journalism.
| UNC-CH