Pharmaceutical companies undertake rigorous clinical trials in order to find out which drugs are safe. But in order to better protect the people volunteering for these tests, regulators decreed that data from studies on animals would be the primary evidence needed before approving a clinical trial in humans. Testing drugs on animals has many ethical and practical issues, and so scientists are looking towards different types of in-vitro models as a solution. But what are these models? How can they move us towards safer, better trials?

To find out, join us on Invent: Life Sciences, a podcast brought to you by technology and product development company TTP.

This Week's Guests

Sylvia Boj
Sylvia Boj is an accomplished scientist and the current Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) of Hub Organoid. Sylvia's journey in the world of organoids began during her postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Hans Clevers - now, at Hub Organoid, Sylvia leads the charge in harnessing the potential of organoids for the pharmaceutical industry. Her mission is to translate the remarkable capabilities of organoids into a vital preclinical platform for drug development and discovery.

Bas Trietsch
Bas Trietsch is a co-founder and Chief Technology Officer at Mimetas in the Netherlands. For the past decade, Bas has been using his expertise in drug development and microfluidics to advance "organ on a chip" technology. This technology creates tiny versions of organs and tissues on a chip, allowing scientists to see how they react to different things and is more accurate than traditional methods.