Tissue Dynamics and Galmed Pharmaceuticals are collaborating to develop a novel, human-centered chronic cardiac fibrosis model.

Galmed focuses almost exclusively on development of a treatment called Aramchol, for liver disease and potentially oncological indications. The new collaboration’s model aims to accelerate discovery and development of Aramchol-based therapeutic approaches for complex fibrotic heart diseases.

Gravity of Cardiac Fibrosis

Cardiac fibrosis, according to the two companies, is a major driver of chronic heart failure. This includes long-term remodeling after myocardial infarction, and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). With no approved therapies to directly and durably reverse cardiac fibrosis, cardiovascular disease remains the world’s leading cause of death.

A target at the center of this branch of biology is the enzyme SCD1. This controls monounsaturated fatty-acid synthesis and membrane-lipid composition. Certain studies have shown SCD1 upregulation in experimental heart failure.

Tissue, Galmed Play to Strengths

In this way, Galmed’s expertise in SCD1 biology and metabolic pathway regulation are key components of the Tissue Dynamics collaboration. Their joint platform will initially focus on long-term effects of myocardial infarction, as well as fibrotic-metabolic remodeling associated with HFpEF.

Tissue Dynamics’ DynamiX platform can test over 20,000 human organoids in parallel, capturing real-time functional kinetics and generating human-relevant data. Meanwhile, the Galmed team’s knowledge will be applied to human cardiac disease settings where lipid imbalance may cause certain impairments.

“This model is one of a kind,” said Tissue Dynamics founder and Chief Scientific Officer Yaakov Nahmias. “By combining vascularized, multichambered human cardiac organoids with continuous metabolic sensing and AI, we can investigate human fibrotic processes with unprecedented precision. This is especially important for metabolic processes such as lipid remodeling and SCD1 activity.”

Tissue Dynamics CEO Avner Ehrlich, PhD, calls it a “unique opportunity to change how cardiac fibrosis therapies are developed.”

“This has the potential to be a game changer for patients and for drug development in this field,” Ehrlich said.