EU research project EMAPS-Cardio: Advancing the Understanding and Treatment of Heart Diseases

Cardiovascular diseases cause 45 % of all deaths in Europe and cost the EU economy EUR 210 billion a year. However, only four cardiovascular drugs have been approved in the last decade. Accelerated development of accurate and cost-efficient cardiovascular drugs is urgently needed.

The EU-funded EMAPS-Cardio project aims to develop a new platform for growth and maturation of cardiac microtissues for adult-like organotypic models. These realistic heart models can help to advance the understanding of several prevalent heart diseases, such as heart attacks and strokes, while striving to be sufficiently accurate to detect drug potency in both healthy and diseased tissues. The increased sensitivity and accuracy of heart-on-chip devices is a needed leap in technology that will accelerate new drug development without the need for animal models.

BioTalentum Ltd. contributes to the project as research partner.