Metaheps
Increase access of patients to novel drugs by addressing DILI issues in drug development in an unrivalled and innovative approach.
| Date | Investors | Amount | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| investor | €0.0 | round | |
| investor | €0.0 | round | |
| investor | €0.0 | round | |
| investor | €0.0 | round | |
N/A | Spinout | ||
| Total Funding | 000k | ||
Related Content
MetaHeps is a German biotechnology company founded in 2014 by Andreas Benesic, originating as a spin-off from the University Hospital Grosshadern in Munich. The firm operates in the specialized market of pathological testing for Drug-Induced Liver Injury (DILI), a significant cause of acute liver failure and a major reason for the termination of pharmaceutical development projects. MetaHeps provides a service-based solution aimed at diagnosing or excluding DILI, and critically, identifying the specific drug responsible, particularly in patients undergoing treatment with multiple medications.
The company's core offering is the MetaHeps® assay, a patient-specific in vitro diagnostic tool. This technology involves creating hepatocyte-like cells (MetaHeps cells) from monocytes taken from a patient's blood sample. These cultivated cells retain the individual genetic and immunogenic characteristics of the donor, allowing for a personalized assessment of drug toxicity. The process involves re-challenging these cells with the suspected medications; an increase in cytotoxicity, measured by LDH release, indicates which drug is the causative agent of the liver injury. This method can distinguish between DILI and non-DILI patients and even identify liver injury caused by drug-drug interactions.
The primary clients for MetaHeps' services include pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, as well as contract research organizations (CROs). The technology is positioned as a crucial tool for DILI adjudication in clinical trials and for pharmacovigilance, supporting drug development and approval processes. By providing a faster and more definitive causality assessment compared to traditional methods, MetaHeps helps its clients make critical decisions about their drug candidates. The technology was initially developed at the University of Munich and later acquired by the University of Zurich, with TransHeps AG now holding the exclusive worldwide license for its commercialization.
Keywords: Drug-Induced Liver Injury, DILI, hepatotoxicity, pathological testing, in vitro diagnostics, personalized medicine, cell-based assay, cytotoxicity, drug safety, clinical trials, pharmacovigilance, CRO services, biotech, pharmaceutical services, liver toxicity, monocyte-derived hepatocytes, drug development tools, causality assessment, TransHeps, Andreas Benesic