Potential value of animal microphysiological systems

Microphysiological systems (MPS) are designed to recapitulate aspects of tissue/organ physiology in vivo, thereby providing potential value in safety and efficacy assessments of FDA-regulated products and regulatory decision-making. While there have been significant advances in the development, use, and proposals of qualification criteria for human organ MPS, there remains a gap in the development using animal tissues. Animal MPS may be of value in many areas including the study of zoonotic diseases, assessment of the safety and efficacy of animal therapeutics, and possibly reduction of the use of animals in regulatory submissions for animal therapeutics. In addition, the development of MPS from various animal species enables comparison to animal in vivo data. This comparison, while not always critical for all contexts of use, could help gain confidence in the use and application of human MPS data for regulatory decision-making and for the potential identification of species-specific effects. The use of animal MPS is consistent with the replacement, reduction, and refinement (3Rs) principles of animal use by identifying toxic compounds before conducting in vivo studies and identifying the appropriate species for testing.