# A 2D Intestinal Crypt Platform for Compound Screens

> **NIH NIH R44** · ALTIS BIOSYSTEMS, INC. · 2022 · $988,431

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Intestinal epithelium is the fastest dividing tissue in the body, and the health of the cells can
be easily impacted by environmental toxins and drugs. This organ system is therefore a prime
target for biological testing of medicinal compounds, prebiotics, and microbial products. An in
vitro gut model that can precisely predict these impacts will reduce the burden of testing by
diminishing reliance on animal models, minimizing the number of overlapping assessments and
helping to eliminate unnecessary testing. To meet this need, Altis Biosystems Inc., an early stage
biotechnology company, will collaborate with scientists at University of Washington to develop
a novel 2-dimensional (2D) crypt platform that emulates the gut epithelium. Human primary
intestinal epithelial stem cells will be patterned on the platform to mimic a gut epithelium
possessing a stem-cell niche, and migratory proliferating and differentiating cells. This planar 2D
platform will enable high-content/high-throughput assays in a rugged and reproducible manner.
In this Phase II SBIR, this collaboration will generate a commercial 2D crypts organ-on-a-chip platform
using established 12-well plates and expand the platform to incorporate a 96-well plate high-content
format. In addition, the commercial platform will be benchmarked in collaboration with AstraZeneca’s
oncology safety team as a predictive assay system for intestinal off-target effects

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10611696
- **Project number:** 2R44DK130647-02A1
- **Recipient organization:** ALTIS BIOSYSTEMS, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** Christopher Eldridge Sims
- **Activity code:** R44 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $988,431
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2021-07-01 → 2024-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10611696

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10611696, A 2D Intestinal Crypt Platform for Compound Screens (2R44DK130647-02A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10611696. Licensed CC0.

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