Hesperos Wins ACC.25 Pitch Competition as FDA Unveils Plan to Move Beyond Animal Testing

Business Wire

02-05-2025

ORLANDO, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hesperos, a leader in recreating human biology for drug development with its Human-on-a-Chip ® technology, took top honors at the American College of Cardiology annual meeting (ACC.25). The showcase featured companies funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). Four companies were selected from a pool of more than 20 NHLBI-funded startups to present their technologies and commercialization strategies to a panel of clinical, translational medicine, and industry experts.
Hesperos' winning presentation highlighted how its advanced multi-organ Human-on-a-Chip® models have accelerated development programs across a range of disease areas, with the FDA accepting data in support of four Phase II programs.
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'This impressive achievement underscores Hesperos' innovative Human-on-a-Chip organ system technology that provides drug and (other medical product) developers more informative results about their products, more quickly and at lower cost than conventional animal testing. This validation of our service offerings by recognized experts aligns well with FDA's renewed focus on phasing out animal testing (see 10 April 2025 press release on FDA.gov),' said Christopher Long, PhD, Hesperos' Director of Automation and Engineering, who presented the pitch at ACC.25.
Hesperos' winning presentation highlighted how its advanced multi-organ Human-on-a-Chip models have accelerated development programs across a range of disease areas, with the FDA accepting data in support of four Phase II programs, two of which that already have progressed to Phase III. Furthermore, NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya emphasized support for this shift in a 29 April 2025 press release on NIH.gov stating, 'This human-based approach will accelerate innovation, improve healthcare outcomes, and deliver life-changing treatments.'
By providing clinically relevant functional readouts that often better predict human outcomes, Hesperos offers a faster, more capital-efficient pathway for drug development. With a growing track record of regulatory acceptance, the company continues to drive innovation, accelerating an industry shift away from animal testing and toward human-based approaches in therapeutic development.
About Hesperos, Inc.
Hesperos is a global contract research organization (CRO) specializing in preclinical drug development services through its Human-on-a-Chip ® platform. By replicating key aspects of human biology (and thus avoiding expensive, time-consuming and often less informative animal testing), Human-on-a-Chip ® organ-system models provide product development teams with more meaningful insights that can accurately predict an agent's therapeutic profile while lowering costs and accelerating development timelines.
For more information, visit www.hesperosinc.com.