ASLS Targets Vascularization Gap to Scale Lab-Grown Organs

Dr. Jay Hoying, Chief Scientist and Partner at Advanced Solutions Life Sciences (ASLS), is advancing vascularized tissue models to solve a fundamental bottleneck in regenerative medicine. By focusing on the critical challenge of microcirculation, Hoying aims to create engineered tissues that can survive and function at a human-relevant scale.

Central to this effort is the BioAssembly Platform (BAB), a robotic system designed for the precise fabrication of 3D living tissues. The BAB utilizes a variety of bioinks and specialized hardware to construct complex biological architectures. According to Dr. Hoying, the platform can operate with eight different tool heads within a single fabrication operation, allowing for high structural complexity in a single build.

The Diffusion Limit

For decades, tissue engineering has struggled with the "diffusion limit." While scientists can grow thin layers of cells, larger engineered tissues often fail because they lack a functional vascular system. Without a network of blood vessels to deliver essential nutrients and remove metabolic waste, the interior cells of a lab-grown tissue quickly perish, limiting the viability and size of the resulting graft.

Dr. Hoying has spent over 25 to 30 years in the biological sciences addressing this specific failure point. His expertise in microcirculation and tissue vascularization was previously applied during his tenure as Chief of the Division of Cardiovascular Therapeutics at the Cardiovascular Innovation Institute (CII), where he focused on the intersection of cardiovascular health and therapeutic innovation.

Implications for Drug Discovery

Solving the vascularization puzzle has immediate consequences for the pharmaceutical industry and clinical medicine. The ability to produce human-relevant, vascularized tissue models provides a more accurate environment for drug testing and disease modeling than traditional 2D cell cultures.

By simulating how a drug interacts with vascularized human tissue, researchers can better predict efficacy and toxicity before moving to human trials. This shift potentially reduces the industry's reliance on animal testing, which often fails to replicate human biological responses, and accelerates the timeline for developing transplantable, lab-grown organs.

The Path Forward

As ASLS continues to refine the BioAssembly Platform, the focus remains on increasing the fidelity of these microvascular networks. The integration of multiple tool heads allows for the simultaneous placement of different cell types and structural supports, mimicking the natural heterogeneity of human organs.

Industry observers are now watching to see how these high-fidelity models transition from laboratory prototypes to standardized tools for drug screening. While the technical capability to print complex structures exists, the next milestone involves ensuring these vascularized tissues maintain long-term stability and functionality outside of a controlled incubator.