Interstitial Lung Diseases (ILD) and Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF)

Interstitial lung diseases are a group of disorders characterized by progressive scarring of the lung tissue. One of the most common and severe forms is Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, where the increase of thickness and stiffness of the tissue lead to impaired of lung function. Even if there are currently two drugs available to slow down the disease progression, Pirfenidone and Nintedanib, none of them allow to reverse the damage caused by IPF.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD): Limited treatments options

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including its two main forms Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), is one of the most common inflammatory conditions affecting the gastrointestinal tract. While the prevalence of this chronic and incurable intestinal disorder is increasing worldwide, the mechanisms involved are poorly understood. This knowledge gap led to the absence of cure, limiting therapeutics schemes to symptoms relief through preventive treatment.

Interleukin-2: an efficacious  cancer immunotherapy with serious side effects

While Interleukin-2 (IL-2, Proleukin®) was the first approved immunotherapy for metastatic melanoma and renal cell carcinoma, its clinical use has been limited by significant side effects. Around one-third of patients treated with IL-2 develop vascular leak syndrome (VLS) — a condition that can cause pulmonary edema, inflammation, and immune cell infiltration. This challenge has driven efforts to develop safer IL-2 variants with reduced toxicity and enhanced anti-tumour efficacy.

Introduction

Developing a new drug is one of the most expensive and risky innovation processes in the world. On average, it costs $660 million to $2.7 billion ¹ to bring a single compound to market. The biggest driver of this cost is failure: animal studies and traditional cell cultures often mispredict human outcomes, leading to expensive late-stage trial setbacks.

Organ-on-chip (OOC) technology offers a smarter solution. By recreating human organ function with unprecedented accuracy, OOC helps pharmaceutical companies reduce costly failures, shorten timelines, and decrease reliance on animal testing.