Feb 15, 2023
President Biden recently signed into law the FDA Modernization Act 2.0, new legislation that ends the FDA’s mandate that all drugs be tested on animals prior to human clinical trials. The new law doesn’t prohibit animal testing, but it does give companies the choice of whether to conduct animal experiments or not, and could lead to many fewer animals being used as test subjects.
If we don’t use animals as test tubes prior to human clinical trials, what should we use? Emulate claims it has the answer. The organ-on-a-chip company’s CEO Jim Corbett testified before Congress in favor of the new legislation and says his company’s products deliver much more reliable data than does animal experimentation.
And why shouldn’t it? We all know that rats (the most popular animal on whom to experiment) have pretty different biologies than humans. For example, people with pet rats are regularly warned not to give their rats onions since it can sicken them. We all know dogs are apparently not supposed to eat chocolate. Yet humans do just fine eating these foods that are toxic to rats and dogs.
So what if we could test on actual human cells that have been placed on chips which mimic the functions of a human body?
In this episode, Jim discusses Emulate’s technology, its promise to slash the number of animals used for testing while delivering safe drugs to market more quickly, who opposes their efforts, and where this is all leading us.
Emulate so far has raised a whopping quarter-billion dollars of venture capital investment, so someone believes that these folks are onto something big. Time will tell, and for now, their CEO will tell you the Emulate story.
Discussed in this episode
Emulate was birthed from Don Ingber’s lab at Harvard with funding from DARPA
Fast Company and WIRED on Emulate’s work.
Nature Communications Medicine Performance assessment and economic analysis of a human Liver-Chip for predictive toxicology (2022)
Science Translational Medicine Reproducing human and cross-species drug toxicities using a Liver-Chip (2019)
Jim recommends the book Endurance to would-be startup founders
Jim credits the Center for a Humane Economy with leading the passage of the FDA Modernization Act 2.0.
More about Jim Corbett
Jim Corbett has served as a leader of successful international businesses across diverse sectors, including biotechnology, medical imaging, analytical instruments and in vitro diagnostics. His experience ranges from Fortune 100 companies to entrepreneurial start-ups.
Until becoming the CEO of Emulate, he served in leadership roles at PerkinElmer during an 11-year tenure, including Executive Vice President and President of Discovery & Analytical Solutions. His other roles at PerkinElmer included President of Diagnostics & Life Sciences, Senior Vice President of Life Sciences Solutions, and Vice President of North America Genetic Screening.
Prior to PerkinElmer, Corbett was President of ViaCell, Inc. which was acquired by PerkinElmer in 2007. Previously, he co-founded CADx Systems, a company focused on the oncology market, where he held the position of Executive Vice President and Director with responsibility for worldwide sales and marketing, technical support and business development. Following the 2004 acquisition of CADx by iCAD, Inc., he was named Chief Commercial Officer.
In addition, Corbett worked for Abbott Laboratories for 14 years in a variety of sales and marketing positions including Worldwide Marketing Manager for Abbott Diagnostics Immunoassay Systems and Region Manager for Abbott Diagnostics. Corbett holds a Bachelor of Science from The University of Massachusetts, Amherst.