a lack of advanced systems that could accurately mimic human liver biology.
“Viscient’s plan goes arm and arm with Organovo,” Murphy said. “Viscient is going to be one of Organovo’s pharma customers.”
In a statement from Organovo, CEO Taylor Crouch explains, “Our 3D disease models have the unique capability to demonstrate drug mechanisms of action and efficacy in a setting that closely mimics human livers…Our aim is to establish a custom platform that will support high-value drug profiling, and ultimately move our collaboration into a steady-state relationship.”
According to Organovo, an estimated 100 million adults in the U.S. are afflicted with non-alcoholic fatty liver diease (NAFLD), while as many as 20 million more Americans are projected to have NASH. Left unchecked, these diseases can progress to cirrhosis and cancer, with NASH being the second leading cause of liver transplants in the U.S.
Murphy said that Viscient, which was incorporated in August, has three employees (including Murphy and Miner), and has raised about $1.5 million in seed funding from Murphy and other angel investors. In response to a query from Xconomy, Murphy added that he resigned from Organovo’s board in August after lawyers involved in vetting the collaboration voiced some misgivings on Murphy’s role as Viscient CEO and chairman of Organovo’s board.
Author: Bruce V. Bigelow
In Memoriam: Our dear friend Bruce V. Bigelow passed away on June 29, 2018. He was the editor of Xconomy San Diego from 2008 to 2018. Read more about his life and work here.
Bruce Bigelow joined Xconomy from the business desk of the San Diego Union-Tribune. He was a member of the team of reporters who were awarded the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in National Reporting for uncovering bribes paid to San Diego Republican Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham in exchange for special legislation earmarks. He also shared a 2006 award for enterprise reporting from the Society of Business Editors and Writers for “In Harm’s Way,” an article about the extraordinary casualty rate among employees working in Iraq for San Diego’s Titan Corp. He has written extensively about the 2002 corporate accounting scandal at software goliath Peregrine Systems. He also was a Gerald Loeb Award finalist and National Headline Award winner for “The Toymaker,” a 14-part chronicle of a San Diego start-up company. He takes special satisfaction, though, that the series was included in the library for nonfiction narrative journalism at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University.
Bigelow graduated from U.C. Berkeley in 1977 with a degree in English Literature and from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1979. Before joining the Union-Tribune in 1990, he worked for the Associated Press in Los Angeles and The Kansas City Times.
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