Human 3D airway epithelium models for informed clinical trial design

Human respiratory viruses such as influenza and SARS-CoV2 have caused numerous pandemics over the past century which have claimed millions of lives. Still, the development of drugs against these viruses have been challenging as many candidates have ultimately failed in the clinical trials. On of the reasons of this is the fact that animals models are often poorly predictive of drug's efficacy in humans. A viable alternative is the human airway epithelium model which adequately reflects the viral infection in humans. The aim of the project is to initially understand the potential and limitations of these models followed by the development of novel method for predicting the efficacy of the drug candidate in humans. The method combines human airway epithelium models with physiologically relevant dynamic drug concentrations paving the way for informed clinical trial design.