SAN DIEGO, Oct. 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Organovo
Holdings, Inc. (NYSE MKT: ONVO) ("Organovo"), a creator and
manufacturer of functional, three-dimensional human tissues for
medical research and therapeutic applications, today provided a
summary of the data presented at the 3rd Annual Cell
Therapy Bioprocessing Conference in Bethesda, MD International Bioprocessing
Conference on October 22, 2013.
Building on data first presented at the Experimental Biology
conference in April 2013, the company
presented data demonstrating retention of key liver functions in
bioprinted tissues for up to 40 days, longer than one month.
Additional data presented at the Cell Therapy Bioprocessing
Conference demonstrated that Organovo's 3D liver tissues exhibit
dose-dependent responses to acetaminophen, a known liver toxicant,
and that the toxic effects can be assessed using both standard
screening assays and histopathological assessment of the treated
tissue. The data demonstrate that Organovo's 3D Liver tissue
can potentially have value in assessing toxicology problems in
human liver over a long period, including sub-acute and multiple
dose effects.
"This additional functional validation of Organovo's 3D Liver
continues the demonstration of strong performance of these
tissues," said Keith Murphy,
Organovo's chief executive officer. "In April we were able to
show that liver function was retained in our 3D Liver for over five
days, and we have now demonstrated that our tissues perform
consistently for at least 40 days, a significant improvement over
the average 48 hour performance of 2D cultures. The stable,
liver-specific functionality of 3D Liver is consistent with our
observations that other NovoGen bioprinted tissues become fully
cellular, steady state, living tissues that persist over time.
Furthermore, the fact that these tissues demonstrate similar
activity to native liver when presented with a known challenge drug
is an encouraging indication of utility in drug development."
The demonstration of extended function in Organovo's 3D liver
tissues was achieved faster than Organovo's projected timeline of
achieving these results by the end of 2013 and highlights progress
in the development of a 3D Human Liver product, which is on track
for launch in 2014. The company believes that a multi-cellular
bioprinted 3D Liver system with extended life span in culture can
provide superior results to current human cellular models and offer
significant value to pharmaceutical researchers by enabling
assessment of both biochemical and tissue responses.
About Organovo Holdings, Inc.:
Organovo (NYSE MKT:
ONVO) designs and creates functional, three-dimensional human
tissues for medical research and therapeutic applications. The
Company is collaborating with pharmaceutical and academic partners
to develop human biological disease models in three dimensions.
These 3D human tissues have the potential to accelerate the drug
discovery process, enabling treatments to be developed faster and
at lower cost. In addition to numerous scientific publications,
their technology has been featured in The Wall Street
Journal, Time Magazine, The Economist, and other
outlets. Organovo is changing the shape of medical
research and practice. Learn more at www.organovo.com or
connect with us on Twitter.
Safe Harbor Statement
Any statements contained in this press release that do not
describe historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements
as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995. Any forward-looking statements contained herein are
based on current expectations, but are subject to a number of risks
and uncertainties. The factors that could cause actual future
results to differ materially from current expectations include, but
are not limited to, risks and uncertainties relating to the
Company's ability to develop, market and sell products based on its
technology; the expected benefits and efficacy of the Company's
products and technology; and the Company's business, research,
product development, regulatory approval, marketing and
distribution plans and strategies. These and other factors are
identified and described in more detail in our filings with
the SEC, including our report on Form 10-KT filed with
the SEC on May 24, 2013 and our other filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should not
place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which
speak only as of the date that they were made. These cautionary
statements should be considered with any written or oral
forward-looking statements that we may issue in the future. Except
as required by applicable law, including the securities laws
of the United States, we do not intend to update any of
the forward-looking statements to conform these statements to
reflect actual results, later events or circumstances or to reflect
the occurrence of unanticipated events.
SOURCE Organovo Holdings, Inc.
