Biotech company Opal Therapeutics secured a $1.25 million National Science Foundation (NSF) SBIR Phase II award to scale its patient-derived gynecologic drug screening platform.
With a shortage of human-relevant preclinical models and the shortfalls of rodent studies, new drug discovery can be slow, expensive, and difficult to translate into clinical development. Opal is developing a “uterus in a dish” platform – using patient-derived cells from menstrual blood and surgical biopsies – to support drug discovery for chronic women’s health conditions, including endometriosis and fibroids.
With its funding, the company will scale its patient-derived organoid samples and laboratory infrastructure to expand its screening capabilities. Further amplifying its research, Opal will also build a “uterine atlas,” combining patient tissue data with computational analysis to generate additional in vitro and in silico insights.
“We are entering a new era in women’s health, with exciting scientific and commercial momentum behind the development of new therapies,” said Morgan Stanton, Ph.D., CEO of Opal Therapeutics. “What’s been missing is a real bridge between big ideas and what actually helps patients. That’s the piece Opal is building. Real human uterine tissue models that let scientists see earlier which drugs are worth betting on and get those to the clinic with more confidence.”
