SBIR Phase I: Industrial-Scale Technology for Drug Development in Mature Human Fat Cells

The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to increase the scale and throughput of novel technology with the potential to enable the discovery and development of next-generation therapeutics for obesity and the array of associated medical conditions that can be ameliorated with weight loss. This technology could also be expanded to therapeutic development to address other reproductive and ageing disorders characterized by diseased fat cells. This project may enable drug development in human fat cells at a previously unattainable quality and scale. For the last 50 years, the first stage of drug development in adipocytes has been limited by the lack of a tractable system that faithfully reproduces the clinical features of mature fat cells. The technology in this project could efficiently turn adult human stem cells into fat cells and accelerate their maturation thousands of times relative to conventional methods. Adipocytes generated by this new technology may more closely match the cellular shape and size, gene expression profile, and function of mature fat cells in adults. Scaling the technology will require development of novel devices for automation and the design and testing of customized protocols. Success will be determined by measures of manufacturing quality control and specific properties of mature human fat tissue. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.