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Complement-ARIE NAMs Reduction to Practice Challenge

Build the future of human-based biomedical research with new approach methodologies.

This challenge is closed to new competitors

stage:
Phase 2
prize:
$7,000,000

This challenge is closed to new competitors

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Summary
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Updates18
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Summary

Overview

Recent technological advances have set the stage for a renewed focus on human-based solutions called new approach methodologies (NAMs) that can complement, and in some cases replace, animal models in research and regulatory testing. These NAMs generally span advanced cell-tissue-organoid (in vitro), computational modeling (in silico), and cell-free biochemical analysis (in chemico) techniques, with each type of NAM offering different advantages. A combination and integration of multiple NAMs elements into a synergistic approach that augments gaps and/or deficiencies in individual NAMs approaches is a “combinatorial NAM” and could ultimately allow for improved predictions of human clinical response. Although many combinatorial NAMs are still early in development, not validated and standardized, nor available to the market broadly, combinatorial NAMs can potentially transform the way biomedical research, drug development, and clinical trials are conducted.   

To accelerate development and validation of combinatorial NAMs for human-based scientific and regulatory purposes, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Common Fund’s Complement-Animal Research In Experimentation (Complement-ARIE) program in collaboration with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is launching the Reduction to Practice (RTP) Challenge. This challenge invites innovative combinatorial NAMs solutions from multidisciplinary teams who can successfully demonstrate implementation of their human-based solution in a practical and usable form within a 3-year period. Solvers will have the chance to win up to $1,430,000 in cumulative cash prizes and have their solution provided validation and/or qualification support by the Complement-ARIE Validation and Qualification Network (VQN). This Challenge is open to the public. Participants and winners from the Complement-ARIE Ideation Challenge launched in November 2023 are also encouraged to apply. 


Guidelines

The Reduction to Practice challenge will have three-phases: 1) Proof of Concept and Feasibility Studies, 2) Prototype Development and Milestone Achievements, and 3) Prototype Delivery for Validation and Qualification.  

In Phase 1, solvers will be asked to submit combinatorial NAM technology solutions and must include submission of preliminary data that is reproducible and demonstrates the integrated NAM technology can feasibly move to a prototype stage. Proposals must also outline a defined context of use (CoU) and product development strategy to demonstrate how a solution could complete Phase 2 milestones within the defined CoU. Up to 20 proposals that meet the requirements will be awarded $80,000 per winner. Only Phase 1 winners will be eligible for Phase 2. In Phase 2, solvers must complete Milestone 1) by constructing a prototype combinatorial NAM and successfully scaling the NAM platform according to fit-for-purpose needs. Solvers must also demonstrate clear progress in initial performance testing. Up to 10 winners will receive $150,000 per winner upon completion of Milestone 1. In Milestone 2) solvers must demonstrate progress toward internal validation and reproducibility of results generated by the NAM platform against reference standards or their equivalent, submit data that meets standards of the Complement-ARIE NAMs Data Hub and Coordination Center (NDHCC), and document how the NAM platform can be assessed by the VQN. These standards will be based on established principles (findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR), technological readiness levels, etc.) and will be more clearly defined by the NDHCC and VQN as the challenge progresses. Up to 7 winners will receive $200,000 per winner upon completion of Milestone 2. Only solvers that have completed Milestone 1 will be eligible to complete Milestone 2 and only Phase 2 winners who have successfully completed both Milestones will be eligible to participate in Phase 3. For Phase 3, solvers must deliver a working NAM prototype with description and documentation that will facilitate validation and/or qualification. All Phase 3 submissions that meet the criteria will be awarded independent assessment by the VQN. Once assessment is completed, judges will award one grand prize winner $1,000,000, and 3 runners-up will be awarded $500,000 each. 

Combinatorial NAMs prototype designs should be consistent with current best practices in the field. Deliverables could include, but are not limited to, modular, scalable, fit-for-purpose, flexible and/or versatile combinatorial NAMs prototype designs.  

Priority Areas  

These priorities represent areas of scientific and regulatory need as identified by the NIH Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD) Working Group on Catalyzing the Development and Use of Novel Alternative Methods to Advance Biomedical Research on NAMs, Complement-ARIE strategic planning activities, the EPA, and the FDA. Solvers are not limited to Priority Areas but are encouraged to consider them in their submission: 

  • Chronicity (i.e. across the human lifespan) – characterizing long-term, systemic, and developmental health effects of environmental and drug exposures, including chronic disease. 
  • Neurobiological Models – neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disease models, neuropsychiatry, ophthalmology, and/or modeling behavioral research. 
  • Personalized Medicine – human-specific models to address biological therapeutics, including monoclonal antibodies, human proteins, oligonucleotides, gene editing, and cell therapies and incorporating population variability and sex as a biological variable. 
  • Cross-Disease Pathogenesis – platforms that address developmental, metabolic, immune, inflammatory, reproductive, or nutritional health that span multiple diseases or are broadly generalizable across diseases including chronic disease. 
  • Toxicology and Safety – Strategies that replace conventional animal toxicology or safety pharmacology studies, including assessment of potencies associated with systemic toxicity via either mechanism- or tissue-based assays assessed via proxy by simpler high-throughput models. 
  • Human Health Protection – Strategies that inform special studies that are important for human health protection and include methods to assess development and reproductive toxicity (i.e. DART), neurotoxicity, endocrine disruption, immunotoxicity, and carcinogenicity 

Partners: 

The NIH Common Fund Complement-ARIE program is administered by the NIH Office of Strategic Coordination, the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). This challenge involves non-financial collaboration with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 

Dates:  

Phase 1 Dates:  

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​09/25/2025   

Phase 1 Launch 

09/30/2025

(Registration Open)  

03/01/2026 11:59PM EST

Phase 1 Submission Deadline 

07/01/2026 

Phase 1 Winners Announced 

 

Estimated Dates of Future Phases: 

~July 2026 

Phase 2 Launched 

~March 2027 

Phase 2 Milestone 1 deadline 

~August 2027 

Phase 2 Milestone 2 deadline 

​​~​August 2027 

Phase 2 Winners Announced 

~August 2027 

Phase 3 Launched 

​​~​ August 2028  

Phase 3 Winners Announced 

 

Statutory Authority to Conduct the Challenge: 

The NIH Common Fund is a component of the NIH budget which is managed by the Office of Strategic Coordination/Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Coordination/Office of the NIH Director. Common Fund programs address emerging scientific opportunities and pressing challenges in biomedical research that no single NIH Institute or Center (IC) can address on its ​own and​ are of high priority for the NIH. [42 U.S.C. 282a(c)(1)]. The Complement-ARIE program is supported by the NIH Common Fund to catalyze the development, validation, and qualification of New Approach Methodologies (NAMs), and to accelerate human-based solutions that can complement, or in some cases replace, existing animal models. 

The NIH Office of the Director is conducting this Challenge under the America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science (COMPETES) Reauthorization Act of 2010, as amended [15 U.S.C. § 3719]. This Competition is consistent with and promotes the agency’s mission by catalyzing the goal-driven development of innovative tools and technologies with the potential to enhance human health. 

PRIZES 

Amount of the Prize: The cash prizes for this Challenge total $7,000,000 USD. Prizes will be awarded following the successful completion of each Phase of the Challenge in the following amounts: 

Phase 1: Proof of Concept and Feasibility Studies   

$80,000 per winner, up to 20 winners across topic areas 

Phase 2: Prototype Development and Milestone Achievements   

Phase 2 will include 2 milestones and achievement of each milestone will be awarded separately:   

Milestone 1 Award: $150,000 per winning team, up to 10 winning teams across topic areas   

Milestone 2 Award: $200,000 per winning team, up to 7 winning teams across topic areas   

Phase 3: Prototype Delivery for Validation and Qualification   

Phase 3 will include 3 Runner-Up winners, each awarded $500,000 per winning team across topic areas, and 1 Grand Prize winner awarded $1,000,000. 

Table 1: Complement-ARIE Reduction-to-Practice (RTP) Challenge Phases 

Phase 

Description 

Total Prize Money 

Prize Money/ Award; 

Number of Awards 

Phase 1  

Proof of Concept and Feasibility Studies 

$1,600,000  

$80K/award;  

up to 20 winners 

Phase 2  

Prototype Development and Milestone Achievements 

Milestone 1  

$1,500,000  

$150K/award;  

up to 10 winners 

Milestone 2 

$1,400,000 

 $200K/award;  

up to 7 winners 

Phase 3  

Prototype Delivery for Validation and Qualification 

Runner-Up Winners (3) 

$1,500,000  

$500K/award;  

up to 3 winners 

Grand Prize Winner (1) 

$1,000,000  

$1,000,000;  

1 winner 

 

Any prize funds unawarded at the completion of earlier phases of this Challenge may be allocated to future phase(s) of the Challenge. Any such allocation of and decisions to award the unspent prize funds in future phases, including modification of prize categories, prize amounts and/or prize number, is entirely at the discretion of NIH.

JUDGING CRITERIA 

Basis Upon Which a Winner Will be Selected 

Submissions will first undergo a preliminary evaluation to review solver eligibility to compete in this Challenge as well as submission completeness and applicability of scope. Complete and applicable submissions from eligible participants will then be evaluated by a panel composed of scientific and technological experts using the Judging Criteria listed in the Phase 1 Criteria Table. A Judging Panel composed of federal employees will review these evaluations and select the winners, pending final decisions by the Award Approving Official. Participants’ evaluation or judging results will not be made available to Participants or the public. Participants will be notified of the final determinations by email and winners will be publicly announced. 

Phase 1: Proof of Concept and Feasibility Studies   

Phase 1 submissions require a clear description of intended use for the proposed combinatorial NAM solution. Submissions also require a well-described research and development plan that demonstrates feasibility of achieving Phase 2 milestones and completing the entire RTP Challenge within its 3-year timeframe. The following table contains the full review criteria for Phase 1: 

 

Phase 1 Criteria 

Criterion 

Description 

Relative Weight 

Significance/ Impact 

What added value is the proposed combinatorial NAM providing that is more significant than each individual NAM approach alone?  

How well does the combinatorial NAM address a critical area of need and resolve potential roadblock(s) to its development and validation?  

To what extent does the solution advance the use of NAMs in a priority area or its equivalent?   

How will the proposed combinatorial NAM align with the principles of replacing, reducing, and refining the use of animals in research and testing?  

15 points 

Innovation 

 

How is the proposed design innovative, creative, and novel compared to existing approaches/methodologies?   

How is the proposed approach expected to be better than the current state-of-the-art approaches? 

 

10 points 

Team 

To what extent does the team composition represent interdisciplinary expertise and an environment that is appropriate for advancing the proposed solution?  

Has the team engaged end-user, industry, regulatory, and/or patient communities that would benefit from this technological development?   

Does the team have the appropriate expertise and resources to accomplish the proposed solution? 

15 points 

Feasibility and Preliminary Data 

Does the technical readiness of the proposed combinatorial NAM demonstrate that the technology could progress to validation within the duration of the challenge? 

Generally, how likely is the proposed combinatorial NAM to be successfully deployed at the conclusion of the Challenge to proceed to validation/qualification? 

To what degree does the data presented reproducibly demonstrate potential for success in solving the Challenge? 

How likely will the use of the proposed combinatorial NAM predict outcomes in humans? Is the verification/validation strategy sound? 

How compatible and feasible is the proposed technological approach with the stated context of use? 

 

25 points 

Approach  

How well does the milestone plan outline construction, testing, data submission for the purpose of validation and delivery of the NAMs? 

How well do the NAM approaches integrate to create a more powerful predictive tool for human translatability? 

Does the proposed scientific method/approach ensure that the research design, methods, analysis, interpretation, and reporting are rigorous and reproducible? 

Is the recording and sharing of data and information about research procedures sufficiently described and available so that other scientists can repeat the study accurately and validate the original findings? 

To what degree did the NAMs design incorporate best practices from the field and are consistent with applicable regulatory requirements/guidance? 

Are strategies for addressing challenges that may arise during solution development adequately considered? 

Does the proposed solution detail the utility of the developed methods including expected outcomes?  

Does the proposal include adequate metrics along with the timeline to demonstrate the progress towards the milestones stated in the challenge? 

Does the proposal include appropriate details on the technical development and capabilities of the solution?                         

Did the proposal provide adequate considerations on potential strategies for validation and testing of the technological solution? 

Did the proposal include adequate details on how the design and technical specifications of the proposed technology solution support the context of use? 

To what degree is the proposed approach likely to succeed in the proposed context of use?    

35 points 

Total 

100 

 

The Judging Criteria for Phase 2 milestone 1, Phase 2 milestone 2, and Phase 3 will be announced at the time of launching those future phases and will be informed by the range of maturity levels of Phase 1 submissions, among other factors.  

Judging Criteria for Phases 2 and 3 are expected to weigh the demonstrated performance of combinatorial NAMS more heavily than its theoretical potential, with consideration of the appropriate experimental models used to infer potential performance. Capability to execute is expected to remain a factor for judging in subsequent Phases. Specific details related to desired endpoints, the level of maturity of technologies, testing, commercialization, and other requirements will be further developed. The Judging Criteria for Phase 3 are expected to include evaluation of the required, desired, and possible attributes as described in Phase 3 Deliverables. The Phase 3 Judging Criteria will evaluate Participant-provided information about the solution and the results of the independent validation testing studies. If Phase 3 deliverables are met, prototypes and associated datasets will be shared with the Complement-ARIE VQN for independent testing and evaluation. At the conclusion of this validation and testing stage, it is anticipated that the VQN will create reports evaluating the NAMs platforms’ performance based on a set framework, criteria, and other metrics established by the VQN. These reports will be reviewed and evaluated by a panel of judges, who will then select the grand prize winner and runners-up, subject to final decision by the Award Approving Official. 

Phase 2 Criteria: Prototype Development and Milestone Achievements   

Phase 2 will include 2 milestones and achievement of each milestone will be awarded separately: 

Milestone 1 Prize 

Deliverable 1: Quantifiable progress toward meeting the initial performance and testing requirements of the NAMs platform in a specific context-of-use 

Deliverable 2: Successful construction and scaling of the NAMs platform according to fit-for-purpose industry guidance 

Milestone 2 Prize 

Deliverable 1: Quantifiable progress toward internal validation of the NAMs platform using reference standards/compounds/agents and demonstrated within-laboratory reproducibility of results   

Deliverable 2: Documented use of the platform in addressing areas of need, and meeting the data standards in coordination with the NAMs Data Hub and Coordination Center (NDHCC) for the particular NAMs platform   

Deliverable 3: Deposition of data and resources for purposes of efficient validation and/or qualification by the VQN 

Deliverable 4: Documented interactions with the VQN for a possible use case  

Phase 3 Criteria: Prototype Delivery for Validation and Qualification   

Phase 3 deliverables: 

Deliverable 1: Detailed description and requisite documentation (and materials if applicable) for the successful transfer of the comprehensive NAMs platform to the VQN for independent validation and testing. 

Deliverable 2: Detailed description of how the prototype performs in one or more workflows specified by the solver. This document should include thorough operating instructions for executing the workflow using the platform.   

Award Approving Official:  

The Award Approving Official will be the Director of the Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives (DPCPSI), or as otherwise delegated, within the NIH Office of the Director. 

Payment of the Prize:  

Prizes awarded under this Challenge will be paid by electronic funds transfer and may be subject to federal income taxes. HHS/NIH will comply with the Internal Revenue Service withholding and reporting requirements, where applicable. 

Entities participating in this Challenge are encouraged, but not required, to request and obtain a free Unique Entity ID (UEI), if they have not already done so, via SAM.gov as this will expedite prize payment. Additional information can be found at https://sam.gov/content/entity-registration 

If participating as a Team, in the event of winning a cash prize, the Team Leader shall be paid the prize in full and is solely responsible for allocating any prize amount among the members of the Team. If participating as an Entity, in the event of winning a cash prize, the prize will be paid directly to the Entity, not the Entity Point of Contact. NIH will not arbitrate, intervene, advise on, or resolve any matters between team members. 

HOW TO ENTER 

Phase 1 Registration and Submission Process: The official challenge announcement for the Complement-ARIE (Complement Animal Research In Experimentation) NAMs Reduction-to-Practice Challenge can be found on Challenge.gov at https://www.nih.gov/challenges/nih-complement-animal-research-experimentation-nams-reduction-practice-challenge. The Challenge registration and submission process is administered by HeroX, a challenge platform and management provider under contract with the NASA Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation on behalf of NIH. All interested Participants must register on the official challenge portal by going to www.herox.com/Complement-ARIE-RTP by the registration deadline on March 1, 2026. Upon registering, participants will be required to identify whether they are registering as either of the following: as an independent Team (i.e., registering as a group of individuals competing together but not on behalf of an established organization, institution, or corporation) or as an Entity (i.e., registering as a group of individuals competing together on behalf of a legally established organization, institution, or corporation). Participants will need to provide the name, affiliation, and contact information of all individuals competing in this Challenge as part of a Team or on behalf of an Entity. All Participants will also be required to acknowledge whether federal funding will be used in the development of the Challenge submission (see Participation Rule 1). All Participants must certify they have read, understand, and agree to abide by the official eligibility rules, participation rules, and requirements for the Challenge as stated in this announcement. 

Phase 1 Submission Requirements: Each participant must submit the Challenge Registration Form to define who is participating in the Challenge and provide contact information for the Participant, and then upload the Proposal Submission on the Challenge website. 

For your submission to be eligible for judging, you must: 

Be eligible to compete as part of a Team or Entity (see Eligibility Rules). 

For Teams: Each participating Team is required to identify a Team Leader who will register and submit on behalf of the Team members. The Team Leader is responsible for all communications with the Challenge sponsors and, in the event of winning a cash prize, will be paid the prize in full. To be eligible to receive a cash prize, the Team Leader must be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States. In the event that a dispute regarding the identity of the Team Leader who actually submitted the entry cannot be resolved to NIH’s satisfaction, the affected submission will be deemed ineligible. 

For Entities: Each participating Entity is required to identify a Point of Contact who will register and submit on behalf of the Entity. The Point of Contact is responsible for all communications with the Challenge sponsors. In the event of winning a cash prize, the prize will be paid directly to the Entity, not to the Point of Contact. To be eligible to receive a cash prize, the Entity must be incorporated in and maintain a primary place of business in the United States. As stated in the Participation Rules, Participants intending to use Federal grant, cooperative agreement, or other transaction (OT) award funds must register for and participate in the Challenge as an Entity on behalf of the awardee institution or organization. In the event that a dispute regarding the identity of the Point of Contact who actually submitted the entry cannot be resolved to NIH’s satisfaction, the affected submission will be deemed ineligible. 

The Team Leader or Point of Contact must register on the Challenge website.  

Complete and submit the Registration Form. 

Upload your responsive Proposal and supporting documents in PDF format through the designated Challenge webpage. All submissions must be written in English and cannot be handwritten. 

Submissions must not include the HHS’ logo or official seal or the logo of NIH or any of its components and must not claim federal government endorsement. 

Each Team may only propose 1 solution. An Entity may submit multiple entries provided there isn’t substantial overlap in team members, the team leaders are not the same, and each entry has a distinct and separate focus. 

Phase 1 Proposal Submission  

Solvers will be required to fill in an Eligibility Review Form answer multiple questions to determine the eligibility of the Team/Entity submitting, as well as confirmation that the Team/Entity meets and accepts all rules to participate in the challenge. 

Submissions to Phase 1 must follow the structure outlined below and adhere to the stated page limits. Do not include any proprietary or confidential information in the Title, Executive Summary, and Plain Language sections as they may be publicly shared if the participant is selected to win a prize across any phase of this Challenge (see Participation Rule 7) 

  • Cover page (1 page)  
  • Submission Title
  • Team/Entity Name
  • Logo (optional)
  • Team/Entity location (State, Country)
  • Executive Summary (1 page): Provide a concise summary of your proposed solution, emphasizing its significance, innovation, human-relevance, and feasibility. Note that the winners’ Executive Summary section will be shared publicly. 
  • Plain Language Summary (0.5 page): Provide a summary of your submission that can be easily understood by a general audience. Describe your technical proposal in a manner that ensures the main ideas and impacts are clear and accessible to those without specialized knowledge or technical background in the field. This summary will be made public for winners and used for broader dissemination to inform the public about the contributions and significance of your work.
  • Team Composition & Expertise (1 page): Provide details about the individuals competing together on behalf of your Team/Entity, emphasizing interdisciplinary expertise. Indicate if Team/Entity members are members of the academic, industry, government, non-government organizations, advocacy communities, or a combination.
  • Project Description and Data (10 pages, including all figures, tables, and data, but excluding references.)
    • Select the priority areas your proposed solution addresses, or define an equivalent scientific need addressed by your solution. 
    • Explain how the components of your combinatorial NAMs integrate to fill in technological gaps and describe the potential impact of your NAM should it become a validated solution. 
    • Highlight the novelty and innovation of your proposed solution. 
    • Describe the technical specifications of the NAM in detail and discuss challenges that may arise in its development. Discuss how well the proposed combinatorial NAM will predict outcomes in humans and your prospective verification/validation strategy. 
    • Describe planned activities, milestones, and technical readiness on a timeline that demonstrates Phase 2 capability and will enable the solution to successfully complete the full RTP challenge in a 3-year period. 
    • Provide any data to support the feasibility and readiness of your combinatorial NAM in successfully completing the RTP challenge. 
    • Provide a clear explanation, scientific rationale, and evidence base for your proposed solution. 
  • Supporting Documents (10-page max addendum) 
    • Include references and letters of support for the project from proposed facilities, collaborators, and/or your organization or company. References do not count towards the 10-page limit. 

All submission content must be provided in English. Submissions must not include the HHS logo or official seal or the logo of NIH or any of its components and must not claim federal government endorsement.

Phase 2 (Milestone 1 & 2) and Phase 3 Submission Requirements 

The submission requirements for Phase 2 (Milestones 1 & 2) will be provided to winners of Phase 1 prior to the initiation of Phase 2. The submission requirements for Phase 3 will be provided to the final winners of Phase 2 prior to the initiation of Phase 3.  

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 

Supplementary Information: Additional Background on the Challenge Announcement and related Glossary are provided in the Resources tab

NIH reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to (a) cancel, suspend, or modify the Challenge, or any part of it, for any reason, and/or (b) not award any prizes if no submissions are deemed worthy.  

RULES 

Eligibility Rules:  

To be eligible to win a prize under this Challenge, a Participant (whether participating as a Team or Entity) —  

Shall have registered to participate in the Challenge under the rules promulgated by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as published in this announcement;  

Shall have complied with all the requirements set forth in this announcement;  

In the case of an Entity, shall be incorporated in and maintain a primary place of business in the United States. In the case of a Team, the Team Leader shall be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States. However, non-U.S. citizens and non-permanent residents can participate as a member of a Team or Entity that otherwise satisfies the eligibility criteria. Non-U.S. citizens and non-permanent residents are not eligible to win a monetary prize (in whole or in part). Their participation as part of a winning Team or Entity, if applicable, may be recognized when the results are announced. 

Shall not be a federal entity or federal employee acting within the scope of their employment;  

Shall not be an employee of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS, or any other component of HHS) acting in their personal capacity;  

Who is employed by a federal agency or entity other than HHS (or any component of HHS), should consult with an agency ethics official to determine whether the federal ethics rules will limit or prohibit the acceptance of a prize under this Challenge; 

Shall not be a judge of the Challenge, or any other party involved with the design, production, execution, or distribution of the Challenge or the immediate family of such a party (i.e., spouse, parent, step-parent, child, or step-child).  

Shall be 18 years of age or older at the time of submission.  

 

Participation Rules: 

(1) Federal grantees and recipients of cooperative agreements or other transaction (OT) awards are eligible to participate in the Challenge, but may not use Federal funds from a grant award, cooperative agreement, or OT award to develop their Challenge submission or to fund efforts in support of their Challenge submission unless use of such funds is consistent with the purpose, terms, and conditions of the grant award, cooperative agreement, or OT award. Each Participant (whether a Team or Entity) intending to use Federal grant, cooperative agreement, or OT award funds must register for and participate in the Challenge as an Entity on behalf of the awardee institution, organization, or entity. If a Participant uses Federal grant, cooperative agreement, or OT award funds to win the Challenge, the prize must be treated as program income for purposes of the original grant, cooperative agreement, or OT award in accordance with applicable Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards [2 CFR § 200]. 

(2)  Federal contractors may not use federal funds from a contract to develop their Challenge submissions or to fund efforts in support of their Challenge submissions.  

(3)  By participating in this Challenge, each Participant (whether a Team or Entity) agrees to assume any and all risks and waive claims against the federal government and its related entities, except in the case of willful misconduct, for any injury, death, damage, or loss of property, revenue, or profits, whether direct, indirect, or consequential, arising from participation in this Challenge, whether the injury, death, damage, or loss arises through negligence or otherwise.  

(4)  Based on the subject matter of the Challenge, the type of work that it will possibly require, as well as an analysis of the likelihood of any claims for death, bodily injury, property damage, or loss potentially resulting from Challenge participation, no Participant (whether a Team or Entity) participating in the Challenge is required to obtain liability insurance, or demonstrate financial responsibility, or agree to indemnify the federal government against third party claims for damages arising from or related to Challenge activities in order to participate in this Challenge.  

(5)  A Participant (whether a Team or Entity) shall not be deemed ineligible because the Participant used federal facilities or consulted with federal employees during the Challenge if the facilities and employees are made available to all Participants participating in the Challenge on an equitable basis. 

(6)  By participating in this Challenge, each Participant (whether a Team or Entity) warrants that they are sole author or owner of, or has the right to use, any copyrightable works that the submission comprises, that the works are wholly original with the Participant (or is an improved version of an existing work that the Participant has sufficient rights to use and improve), and that the submission does not infringe any copyright or any other rights of any third party of which the Participant is aware.  

(7)   As a condition for winning a cash prize in this Challenge, each Participant (whether participating as a Team or Entity) grants to the NIH an irrevocable, paid-up, royalty-free nonexclusive worldwide license to reproduce, publish, post, link to, share, and display publicly the Team/Entity Name, Title, Executive Summary, and Plain Language Summary components of the submission on the web or elsewhere. Each Participant will retain all other intellectual property rights in their submissions, as applicable. To participate in the Challenge, each Participant must warrant that there are no legal obstacles to providing the above-referenced nonexclusive licenses of the Participant’s rights to the federal government. To receive an award, Participants will not be required to transfer their intellectual property rights to NIH, but Participants must grant to the federal government the nonexclusive licenses recited herein. 

(8)  Each Participant (whether a Team or Entity) agrees to follow all applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and policies. 

(9)  Each Participant (whether a Team or Entity) participating in this Challenge must comply with all terms and conditions of these rules, and participation in this Challenge constitutes each such Participant’s full and unconditional agreement to abide by these rules. Winning is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements herein. 

(10) As a condition for winning a cash prize in this Challenge, each Participant (whether a Team or Entity) that has been selected as a winner must complete and submit all requested winner verification and payment documents to NIH within 7 business days of formal notification. Failure to return all required verification documents by the date specified in the notification may be a basis for disqualification of a cash prize winning submission. 

(11) As a condition for winning a cash prize in this Challenge, each Participant (whether participating as a Team or an Entity) irrevocably grants to NIH the right to the use of their name, affiliation, city and state, and likeness or image for the purposes of publicity releases and any other promotion of this Challenge. 

(12)  As a condition for winning a cash prize in this Challenge, each Participant (whether a Team or Entity) that has been selected as a winner must complete and submit all requested winner verification and payment documents to NIH within 7 business days of formal notification. Failure to return all required verification documents by the date specified in the notification may be a basis for disqualification of a cash prize winning submission. 

Timeline
Updates18

Challenge Updates

Announcing the Complement-ARIE NAMs Reduction to Practice Challenge Phase 1 Winners

July 20, 2026, 12:30 p.m. PDT by Andrew @ HeroX

NIH has selected the following Phase 1 winners to share in the $7 million prize pool of the Complement-ARIE NAMs Reduction to Practice Challenge. The winners are:

  • Predictive Brain Combinatorial NAM, submitted by Massachusetts General Hospital
  • Combining vTIME and AI for IO Drug CRS Prediction, submitted by Qureator Inc.
  • Human Lung Models for Anti-Fibrotic Drug Testing, submitted by Wake Forest University Health Sciences
  • Combinatorial NAM for Human Atherosclerosis Model, submitted by Endomimetics Inc.
  • CAR-T Immunotherapy Clinical Trials on a Chip, submitted by CAR-T Chips Team
  • AI-integrated human skin immune organoids, submitted by Stanford University
  • Combinatorial Human Bone Remodeling NAM Platform, submitted by University of Massachusetts - Amherst
  • PACE-IT: Immune-Cardiac NAM for Med Device Testing, submitted by University of Minnesota
  • High-Throughput Human Tissue Remodeling & Toxicity, submitted by First State Click-Chem Solutions
  • Combinatorial NAM for Endometriosis Drug Efficacy, submitted by VeriSIM Life, Inc.
  • Multi-Brain Region Assembloid Combinatorial Models, submitted by Regenerative Research Foundation
  • Multiorgan Predictive Biologic Toxicity Framework, submitted by Biopico Systems Inc.
  • Human Brain Organoids to Predict DNT, submitted by Bioprinting Laboratories Inc.
  • Precision dosing of oligonucleotide therapeutics, submitted by Javelin Biotech Inc.
  • NeuroTraX-AI, submitted by Frontier Bio Corporation
  • AI-Driven Antibody Repurposing for New Therapies, submitted by Wake Forest University Health Sciences
  • LIVER-COMBINE: A Human Relevant NAM Platform, submitted by Liver-Combine Consortium
  • Gut Feelings: A GI Toxicity Prediction Engine, submitted by Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
  • Plasticity Biomarkers in Human Cortical Organoids, submitted by 28bio Inc.
  • MAJIC: The Future of Human Joint Drug Testing, submitted by CellField Technologies Inc. 

In Phase 2, solvers must complete Milestone 1) by demonstrating progress developing their combinatorial NAM platform according to fit-for-purpose needs. Solvers must also demonstrate clear progress in initial performance testing. Up to 10 winners will receive $150,000 per winner upon completion of Milestone 1. In Milestone 2) solvers must demonstrate progress toward internal validation and reproducibility of results generated by the NAM platform against reference standards or their equivalent, submit data that meets standards of the Complement-ARIE NAMs Data Hub and Coordination Center (NDHCC), and document how the NAM platform can be assessed by the VQN. These standards will be based on established principles (findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR), technological readiness levels, etc.) and will be more clearly defined by the NDHCC and VQN as the challenge progresses. Up to 7 winners will receive $200,000 per winner upon completion of Milestone 2.

 

Congratulations once again to our winners!


Join Us for the Complement-ARIE Winners Webinar!

July 15, 2026, 5 a.m. PDT by Lulu

The first phase of the Complement-ARIE NAMs Reduction to Practice Challenge has been an incredible journey of innovation. We are thrilled to invite you to a special winners' webinar where we will celebrate the success of our top participants and share insights into the future of human-based biomedical research.

Whether you are a past competitor, a future entrant, or simply interested in the transformative power of New Approach Methodologies (NAMs), this session is for you. Join us to hear firsthand from the innovators who are shaping the next generation of biomedical research.

We look forward to seeing you there!


Thank You for your Submissions

March 1, 2026, 9:01 p.m. PST by Lulu

And just like that, it’s over! Thank you to all of you who sent in submissions. We can’t wait to finally see what you’ve been working so hard on. 

Crowdsourcing would be nothing without the crowd — that’s you! Thank you for being an indispensable part of this process, and using your brainpower for the greater good.

Congratulations on completing your submission. This is not an easy process, and you deserve a pat on the back for your hard work and dedication. Thank you!


Eight Hours Left

March 1, 2026, 12:30 p.m. PST by Lulu

It’s almost over! You have eight hours left to send in your Complement-ARIE NAMs Reduction to Practice Challenge submission. 

Be sure to get your submission in well before the deadline. We don’t want you to have put all this work into your project, only to miss the deadline by a hair. Please send it in no later than 11:59 pm Eastern Time today, Mar 1st.

Good luck finishing up your submissions! We can’t wait to see all of your hard work.


Two Day Warning

Feb. 26, 2026, 6 a.m. PST by Lulu

The time has almost come! You now have two days left to finish your Complement-ARIE NAMs Reduction to Practice Challenge submission. The final project is due on Mar 1 at 11:59pm Eastern Time.

We don’t accept any late submissions, so now is the time to make sure that everything is good to go. Double check file formats and make sure that all of your project components are easily accessible.

We are more than happy to answer your last-minute questions about the submission process. Post a question in the forum or leave a comment on this post, and we will be in touch with you.

We can’t wait to see the final projects. Good luck!


Forum18
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FAQ
Meet The Phase 1 Winners

Meet The Phase 1 Winners

We are pleased to share the Phase 1 winners of the Complement-ARIE NAMs Reduction to Practice Challenge. You can learn about all of the teams participating below. 

 

Predictive Brain Combinatorial NAM

Submitted by Massachusetts General Hospital

Team Captain: Alice Stanton

Team Members: Haroon Kalam, Venkatesh Pooladanda, Romane Gaston-Breton, Louis DeRidder

Our team is creating a new tool, Predictive Brain Combinatorial NAM, to help scientists predict how humans will respond to treatments and toxins. Traditional animal tests often fail to predict how treatments will work in people, especially for brain diseases like Alzheimer's or Parkinson's, leading to many failed drugs and delaying treatment options for the people who need them. Our approach combines three methods in a smart loop: computer simulations (using a powerful AI foundation model) to first predict effects, lab-grown mini-brains-on-chip (organoids) made from human cells to test and refine those predictions and quick chemical tests to guide the process. Over time, the AI gets better through iteration, so eventually, new compounds can be predicted just by the computer without always needing the mini-brains.

We have already built advanced mini-brains with all key cell types that demonstrate improvements over existing approaches, tested them with various chemicals, and used AI to analyze and improve results. This could make drug development faster, safer, and more accurate, helping protect people from harmful substances and advancing treatments for brain disorders. It is a highly innovative approach, filling gaps in current tools, scalable, focuses on real human biology, and builds toward a future where we identify beneficial treatments rapidly.

 

Combining vTIME and AI for IO Drug CRS Prediction

Submitted by Qureator Inc.

Team Captain: Jungfeng Wang

Team Members: Byungjun Lee, Aneesh Sathe, Sanghee Yoo

Immunotherapies like T-cell engagers are powerful cancer treatments, but risk triggering a deadly "immune storm" called Cytokine Release Syndrome (CRS). Currently, researchers test drugs on animals or in petri dishes to predict safety. However, animal biology differs fundamentally from humans, missing severe vascular toxicities. Conversely, petri dishes lack blood vessels and physical barriers, creating false alarms. Consequently, many promising drugs unexpectedly fail in human trials.

We propose a fully human, AI-driven alternative to animal testing. Using a "tumor-on-a-chip" technology called vTIME, we grow 3D human tumors connected to living human blood vessels and immune cells, accurately mimicking drug delivery and tissue interaction.

To analyze these complex reactions, we utilize QuriCore, an advanced AI. It evaluates 3D microscopic images to precisely measure cancer destruction. Simultaneously, it tracks blood vessel collapse and inflammatory protein surges to generate a highly accurate, multi-dimensional safety score.

By testing drugs with known toxic histories against safer profiles (like TGN1412 and MGD009), we will prove this platform precisely predicts human immune reactions. Having recently secured a historic FDA trial approval using vTIME data instead of animal testing, this technology will make clinical trials safer, accelerate cancer cures, and drastically reduce animal use.

 

Human Lung Models for Anti-Fibrotic Drug Testing

Submitted by Wake Forest University Health Sciences

Team Captain: Robyn Gore

Team Members: Sean V. Murphy, Steven R. Bauer, Sean Porazinski, Timothy Leach, Alexandria Pendino

Lung scarring, known as fibrosis, affects millions of people worldwide and has very few effective treatments. Researchers currently rely on animal testing to evaluate new drugs, but these models often fail to predict how drugs will work in humans, leading to repeated clinical trial failures.

Our project develops a two-part human cell-based testing system to replace animal models in anti-fibrotic drug evaluation. The first part is a high-speed automated platform that tests large numbers of drug candidates using miniature 3D printed human lung tissue models. The second is a more complex 3D lung tissue model that closely replicates human lung structure and function, allowing researchers to confirm that promising drugs work at the tissue level.

We will test drugs already known to have failed in human clinical trials to demonstrate that our system can identify ineffective treatments before they reach patients, something current animal models cannot reliably do. The system can also detect drug toxicity early in the testing process.

Our team includes university researchers with tissue modeling expertise, an industry partner that manufactures the 3D bioprinting platform, and a former senior FDA Branch Chief who will ensure the system meets regulatory standards. This platform could significantly reduce animal use in drug development while providing more human-relevant results, ultimately accelerating delivery of effective treatments to patients.

 

Combinatorial NAM for Human Atherosclerosis Model

Submitted by Endomimetics Inc.

Team Captain: Joseph Garner

Team Members: Jun Chen, Jennifer Sherwood, Ho-Wook Jun, Brigitta Brott, Kyungsang Kim

Heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide, and atherosclerosis is its most common underlying cause. Many drugs that appear promising in early testing fail in human clinical trials because current models do not accurately reflect human disease. Animal studies are costly, slow, and often poorly predictive, while traditional laboratory tests rely on simplified cell cultures that lack the structure and biological complexity of human arteries. As a result, there is an urgent need for more advanced, human-relevant platforms. This project will develop AtheroVasc, a laboratory-grown human vascular model that closely mimics early atherosclerosis. Built using human cells, it recreates the natural three-layer structure of arteries and key early disease features.

Using this system, we will establish three complementary laboratory tests to measure immune cell buildup, fat accumulation, and inflammation, the processes that drive early plaque formation. These tests will run in standard multi-well plates, enabling efficient and scalable drug evaluation. AI-assisted analysis will automatically interpret results, improve consistency, and reduce bias. By combining realistic human biology, scalable testing, and automated analysis, this project provides a more predictive and ethical approach to accelerating early-stage atherosclerosis drug development while reducing reliance on animal testing.

 

CAR-T Immunotherapy Clinical Trials on a Chip

Submitted by CAR-T Chips Team

Team Captain: Weiqiang Chen

Team Members: David Baek, Lunan Liu, Tamas Gonda, Saba Ghassemi

Pancreatic cancer remains one of the most difficult cancers to treat. Even advanced immunotherapies like CAR-T cell therapy, which reprogram a patient's own immune cells, often fail against this disease. This failure is largely due to the heterogeneous and "immune cold" nature of pancreatic tumor. Currently, scientists test new therapies mostly in mice. But mice don't have human tumors and human immune systems, so results often don't translate to patients. Compounding this, no reliable clinical method exists to quickly and accurately predict which patients will benefit from CAR-T treatment. To address these challenges, our team developed an innovative solution combining three cutting-edge technologies, patient-derived organoids, organ-on-a-chip platforms, and artificial intelligence (AI) to predict patient responses to CAR-T therapy. Our approach uses a patient's own cells to build a miniature tumor replica on a microfluidic chip, then employs AI to analyze complex treatment processes and forecast therapeutic outcomes. This platform allows us to observe, in real time, whether CAR-T cells can find, infiltrate, and kill that specific patient's tumor, providing answers in weeks instead of months while reducing animal testing. By serving as a new clinical tool implementable directly in practice, our solution establishes a "clinical trials on a chip" paradigm that helps doctors choose the right treatment for the right patient—bringing us closer to truly personalized cancer care.

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AI-integrated human skin immune organoids

Submitted by Stanford University

Team Captain: Calvin Kuo

Team Members: Barbara Engelhardt, Hudson Horn

Many promising medicines fail late in development because preclinical tests often do not predict what will happen in people. Animal studies and simplified cell models can miss key human biology, leading to drugs that do not work as expected or cause unanticipated side effects. This is especially important in skin, where drug benefit and drug rashes are driven by complex interactions between immune cells, support cells, and the skin barrier.

We will build a human focused testing system that utilizes a complex human tissue model called organoids that preserve multiple layers of human skin and different cell types and will combine this with a multimodal measurement system that shows that the tissue is doing (what cell types are activated and what they’re doing) and artificial intelligence that integrates these measurements into clear predictive readouts.

The outcome will be a “digital twin” of human skin responses that can predict whether a treatment will reduce inflammation, promote repair, or cause harm such as skin damage. We will also identify biomarkers that predict who is most likely to respond and who may be at higher risk of side effects, helping make clinical trials smaller, faster, and safer. Because it is trained and validated on human tissue, this platform can reduce reliance on animal testing and can be adapted beyond skin to other organs over time.

 

Combinatorial Human Bone Remodeling NAM Platform

Submitted by University of Massachusetts - Amherst

Team Captain: Jungwoo Lee

Team Members: Patrick Ryan, Leili Shahriyari, James Chambers, Jun-Goo Kwak

Osteoporosis is a common age-associated degenerative disease, often termed a silent killer because it remains undetected until life-threatening fractures occur, making it a major public health concern. Mature bone maintains strength via continuous formation and resorption, and osteoporosis results from chronic remodeling imbalance. Progress in treatment and prevention is limited by the difficulty of detecting subtle, long-term effects of drugs and environmental exposures using animal models and clinical studies, underscoring the need for New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) that reproduce human bone complexity and metabolism.

We developed lab-grown bone models that replicate the structure and cellular activity of mature human bone, including bone-forming and bone-resorbing cells on the surface and sensor cells embedded within. These models reproduce the natural cycle of bone breakdown and rebuilding under controlled conditions while enabling real-time imaging and longitudinal biochemical profiling. This quantitative platform supports computational modeling. By integrating tissue models (in vitro), biochemical measurements (in chemico), and computational simulations (in silico), we aim to establish a predictive human bone remodeling NAM platform. We will demonstrate its utility in two contexts: optimizing osteoporosis drug sequencing and screening environmental factors that impair bone health. This work has the potential to establish a new standard for bone remodeling NAMs.

 

PACE-IT: Immune-Cardiac NAM for Med Device Testing

Submitted by University of Minnesota

Team Captain: Brenda Ogle

Team Members: Andrew Khalil, Doug Hine, Maggie Pistella

Pacemakers are life-saving medical devices that help the heart beat normally. Before new pacemaker electrodes can be used in patients, they must be tested for safety and performance. Currently, these tests are done mostly in animals, which is expensive, slow, and not always accurate for predicting what happens in humans. Our team proposes to build a living human heart model in a dish that can be used to test pacemaker electrodes directly in human tissue and limits the use of animals. This “testbed” will be made from human stem cells (not embryonic) that are turned into beating heart cells and immune cells, forming a small piece of living heart tissue. Real pacemaker electrodes can then be attached to this tissue to study how well they work and how the tissue responds over time. This innovation will make pacemaker testing faster, cheaper, and more human-relevant. Instead of spending over $20,000 to test a single device in animals, our human testbed will cost approximately $500 per test. It will also provide valuable information about inflammation, healing, and electrical function to help scientists design safer, more effective devices. The project brings together experts from Medtronic, a leader in pacemaker technology, and the University of Minnesota, a global leader in heart tissue engineering. In the future, this technology could also be used to test other implanted devices and accelerate the discovery of better treatments for heart disease.

 

High-Throughput Human Tissue Remodeling & Toxicity

Submitted by First State Click-Chem Solutions

Team Captain: Lucas Lu 

Team Members: Joseph Fox, Ilya Safro, Michael Axe, Zugui Zhang

We are developing a human-based testing platform to make drug development faster, safer, and less dependent on animal studies. Many diseases, including arthritis, organ scarring (fibrosis), and cancer, are driven by changes in the tissue “matrix,” the natural scaffolding that supports cells. Because animal matrix can differ from human matrix, drugs that look promising in animals may fail in people or cause unexpected side effects.

Our solution, the Molecular Highlighter, uses a Nobel Prize-recognized technique called click chemistry. We test tiny pieces of donated human tissue, smaller than a grain of rice, and label the newly made matrix as cells build it. This lets us measure, in real time, whether a drug improves tissue repair or triggers hidden damage, a functional readout that standard tests often miss.

We combine this assay with AI to prioritize which medicines to test and to explain why certain drugs are likely to work. We then compare our findings with long-term health records to confirm that the lab results align with real-world outcomes. This integrated approach can accelerate the discovery of safer treatments and may help doctors use a patient’s own biopsy to select the most effective chemotherapy dose.

 

Combinatorial NAM for Endometriosis Drug Efficacy

Submitted by VeriSIM Life, Inc.

Team Captain: Jyotika Varshney

Team Members: Morgan M. Stanton, Hugh S. Taylor, Divesh Bhatt, Roshan Bhave

Endometriosis affects roughly 1 in 10 women of reproductive age, yet available treatments remain limited. One reason is that animal models used early in drug development poorly predict what will work in patients. Mice and rats do not naturally develop endometriosis, and surgically created versions do not faithfully reflect human disease. Many promising compounds advance based on misleading animal results, only to fail in clinical trials.

Opal Therapeutics and VeriSIM Life are building a translational platform to reduce dependence on animal models and improve early decision making in endometriosis drug development.

First, Opal grows patient derived uterine organoids that replicate the cellular architecture and signaling environment of human tissue. These models allow drug candidates to be tested directly in human biology, capturing disease relevant responses that animal systems often miss. Second, VeriSIM Life integrates those laboratory readouts into its AI driven mechanistic modeling framework, translating molecular and phenotypic signals into quantitative predictions of clinical efficacy and safety.

By combining human tissue biology with predictive computational modeling, this approach enables more confident go or no go decisions before committing to costly and translationally unreliable animal studies. The platform could accelerate timelines, improve efficiency, and reduce unnecessary animal testing while advancing new therapies for women living with endometriosis.

 

Multi-Brain Region Assembloid Combinatorial Models

Submitted by Regenerative Research Foundation

Team Captain: Jeff Stern

Team Members: Sally Temple, Taylor Bertucci, Steven Lotz, Catherine Hamann, Thomas Kiehl, Kristina Roberts, Michelle Lewis

Stem cells have the remarkable ability to self-organize into small organs termed organoids that express characteristics of native brain composition. We will combine brain region-specific organoids into multiregional assembloids that express interactions critical for brain development, function and disease. The Neural Stem Cell Institute (NSCI) has developed protocols to more efficiently produce brain region-specific organoids. The ready availability of these organoids enables NSCI to take the next step- combining organoids from different brain regions to form assembloids that model the interregional interactions that commonly occur in the brain. Assembloids will be created by simply adding more than one type of organoid to a specialized culture dish where the organoids fuse to form assembloids. The response of the combinatorial assembloids will be used to evaluate the neurotoxicity of therapeutic candidates under development to treat neurologic and psychiatric disorders. The organoid and assembloid models will complement and reduce the use of animal models for drug development.

 

Multiorgan Predictive Biologic Toxicity Framework

Submitted by Biopico Systems Inc.

Team Captain: John Collins

Team Members: Henry Wong, Anshu Agrawal, Johar Kohana

Multi Organ Predictive Analysis with Computational Twin addresses a major challenge in developing biologic medicines. Some immune based drugs, including monoclonal antibodies and checkpoint inhibitors, can cause serious side effects when the immune system becomes overactive. These reactions are difficult to predict before clinical trials. Current safety testing relies heavily on animal studies, which are costly and may not accurately reflect how the human immune system responds. In addition, known differences between males and females in immune responses aren't always considered in early safety testing.

Our solution is a human based laboratory platform that combines engineered human tissues with circulating immune cells under controlled flow conditions. We measure immune signals and markers of tissue injury to see how the immune system affects organs. These experimental results are then connected to a computational framework that models dose response, individual variability, and sex related differences. Together, this integrated system translates laboratory data into clear risk categories that can help guide safer dose selection.

By directly modeling human immune and organ interactions, this approach aims to improve prediction of immune related toxicity, reduce reliance on animal testing, and support more personalized and reliable safety assessment of new biologic therapies.

 

Human Brain Organoids to Predict DNT

Submitted by Bioprinting Laboratories Inc.

Team Captain: Pranav Joshi

Team Members: Xuexia Wang, Lin Li, Minseong Lee

Neurodevelopmental disorders affect nearly one in six children in the United States and are a growing public health concern. Although genetics play important role, increasing research has shown that exposure to certain medications, drugs, alcohol, and environmental chemicals during pregnancy may raise the risk. Despite the developing brain being especially sensitive, only a small fraction of commonly used chemicals has been tested for their effects on brain development. Current testing relies largely on animal models, which are slow, expensive, and do not always reflect how the human brain responds. Our team is developing a faster, more human-relevant way to evaluate chemical safety using lab-grown human brain organoids - tiny, three-dimensional tissues that mimic early brain development. These organoids will be grown on a proprietary culture platform designed to improve nutrient and oxygen delivery and support realistic, long-term chemical exposure. We will examine how chemicals affect brain growth, cell health, neural communication, and gene activity, and use advanced data analysis to help predict potential developmental risks. Building on our prior research, this project aims to improve chemical safety testing, reduce reliance on animal research, and support better regulatory decisions. Ultimately, this work will enable early identification of harmful exposures to children and help protect them during critical periods of brain development.

 

Precision dosing of oligonucleotide therapeutics

Submitted by Javelin Biotech Inc.

Team Captain: Murat Cirit

Team Members: Shiny Rajan, Piet van der Graaf, Suruchi Bakshi, Emily Geishecker

Many therapies for rare diseases use liver-targeted oligonucleotides as genetic switches to silence harmful proteins or correct metabolic imbalances. However, development is often hindered by biological differences between humans and animals, causing dosing strategies validated in animals to lead to unexpected liver toxicity or treatment failure in patients. Historically, these failures have resulted in clinical trial terminations, safety warnings, and the withdrawal of life-saving drugs.

This project introduces a human-centric methodology to evaluate candidates before trials by integrating two technologies. First, a Liver-on-a-Chip uses human cells to create a functioning 3D model that mimics blood flow and organ function. This allows us to measure drug movement and detect long-term safety issues animal tests miss. Second, a Digital Twin platform integrates this data into computer models to generate virtual patient cohorts, simulating how individuals with various genetics and metabolism will respond.

We are qualifying this method using Fitusiran, a hemophilia drug. Early Fitusiran trials struggled because doses were too high for some patients, causing safety concerns. By using our liver-on-a-chip and digital twin system, we can accurately identify the appropriate dose for patients. This approach makes drug development faster, safer, and more efficient, ensuring the right dose reaches the right patient.

 

NeuroTraX-AI

Submitted by Frontier Bio Corporation

Team Captain: Eric Bennet

Team Members: Sam Pashneh-Tala, Julia Schachenhofer, Nigel Gomes

NeuroTraX-AI: A Combinatorial NAM for Human BBB Integrity

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a crucial protective layer that shields the brain from toxins, but it also creates a major hurdle because it blocks life-saving medicines from reaching brain tissue. Currently, scientists rely heavily on animal testing to study this barrier, but animal brains often react differently to drugs and injuries than human brains do.

NeuroTraX-AI solves this problem using an advanced "brain-on-a-chip". This tiny device uses real human stem derived cells to recreate the human blood-brain barrier in the laboratory, allowing the cells to touch and interact exactly as they do in the human body.

To monitor the health of this barrier, we developed a novel Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool. Normally, checking if the barrier is leaking requires complicated electrical sensors or the injection of special chemical dyes. Instead, our AI acts as a non-invasive "virtual sensor". By simply looking at standard, label-free microscope pictures of the human cells, the AI can accurately calculate if the barrier is intact, damaged, or healing. It can even pinpoint where a leak is happening.

This technology makes testing new drugs for brain diseases much faster, cheaper, and more accurate. By providing a reliable human-based alternative, NeuroTraX-AI will help reduce the need for animal testing while speeding up the discovery of safe treatments for neurological conditions.

 

AI-Driven Antibody Repurposing for New Therapies

Submitted by Wake Forest University Health Sciences

Team Captain: Hsih-Te (Paul) Yang

Team Members: Richard Rovin, Karl Dykema, Jenny Chen, Sharvil C. Desai

Antibody medicines are important treatments for many diseases but developing them is slow and difficult. Even though more than 16,000 antibody candidates have been patented, only about 170 have been approved for patient use. This means many promising ideas never make it to the clinic.

Our project uses artificial intelligence (AI) to better predict which antibodies are most likely to be effective and safe. We created a computer system called i‑Ab that helps researchers understand how antibodies work, choose the best candidates earlier, and reduce the chances of failure.

We tested this system in two examples, one involving a cancer‑related antibody and another involving influenza antibodies, and both tests showed encouraging results. We now plan to apply i‑Ab to other diseases, including cancers, immune response, and brain conditions such as Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG).

Overall, our goal is to help speed up the development of new antibody treatments so patients can benefit from them sooner.

 

LIVER-COMBINE: A Human Relevant NAM Platform

Submitted by Liver-Combine Consortium

Team Captain: Rama Gullapalli

Team Members: Ola Spjuth, Srijit Seal, Jordi Carreras-Puigvert, Madhu Nag, Valon Llabjani, Shagun Krishna

Drugs that appear safe in animal testing later cause unexpected liver damage in patients, which is sometimes so severe that the drug must be pulled from the market. This may happen because animal livers process drugs differently from human livers, and current laboratory tests look at only one or two aspects of liver injury at a time, often at drug doses that do not reflect what patients actually experience.

LIVER-COMBINE is a new testing platform that brings together five different technologies to predict whether a drug might harm the human liver without using animals. First, computer models predict how much of a drug actually reaches the liver in a real patient. Then, human stem cell-derived liver cells are examined under a microscope to spot the earliest signs of damage across thousands of cellular features. Three-dimensional mini-liver tissues made from donated human cells measure whether the liver's essential functions, like filtering toxins and producing proteins, are impaired. A flow system mimics blood circulation to test whether damage worsens under realistic conditions. Finally, advanced laser imaging detects the very first signs of energy failure in liver cells before they die.

By combining these five approaches and anchoring them all to realistic human drug levels, LIVER-COMBINE aims to detect liver toxicity earlier, more accurately, and more reliably than any single test alone, helping make medicines safer for patients while reducing the need for animal testing.

 

Gut Feelings: A GI Toxicity Prediction Engine

Submitted by Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Team Captain: Ophir Klein

Team Members: Zev Gartner, Liang Zhao, Matt Thomson

Many promising medicines fail because animal testing does not reliably predict how drugs affect the human intestine. Side effects like severe diarrhea, inflammation, and poor drug absorption are common reasons drugs are stopped in clinical trials, even after they appeared safe in animals. This problem increases costs, delays treatments, and exposes volunteers to avoidable risks.

We are developing a new testing system that uses living human intestinal tissue grown from stem cells instead of animals. The tissue is built so that it behaves like a real intestine: it forms a hollow tube, contracts rhythmically, maintains a protective barrier, and can interact with microbes. When drugs are applied, we measure how the tissue responds, including whether it becomes inflamed, leaky, or abnormal in its contractions.

A computer-based model then analyzes these measurements to predict whether a drug is likely to cause intestinal side effects in people. The system is designed to replace certain animal tests used during early drug development.

If successful, this technology will help pharmaceutical companies identify unsafe drugs earlier, design safer medicines faster, reduce development costs, and significantly decrease the use of animals in GI safety testing.

 

Plasticity Biomarkers in Human Cortical Organoids

Submitted by 28bio Inc.

Team Captain: Corey Rountree

Team Members: Andrew LaCroix, Michael J. Moore, Norman J. Haughey, Thomas Luechtefeld

We are developing a human brain mini-tissue testing system to help drug developers minimize the risk of neurocognitive side effects by seeing whether a chemical causes new functional deficits, worsens existing deficits, or preserves function over time. The system uses lab-grown cortical brain organoids made from human cells that show stable electrical activity, allowing repeated measurements across days and weeks. Each test well holds two organoids in separate chambers connected by a small channel. The organoids remain physically separate, but nerve fibers can grow through the channel and link them, letting us compare healthy pairs, mixed healthy and impaired pairs, and impaired pairs to understand how a compound behaves across different network states.

We will include organoids in defined impaired states and measure learning-like change using controlled electrical stimulation that tracks whether responses strengthen with training and persist over time. Machine learning will help make results comparable across samples and study days by predicting the expected response to each stimulation pattern and using the difference between expected and observed responses to adjust for baseline differences and slow drift. This enables consistent ranking of compounds based on whether they increase functional risk or help preserve function relative to the healthy reference.

 

MAJIC: The Future of Human Joint Drug Testing

Submitted by CellField Technologies Inc

Team Captain: Mitch Nachtigall

Team Members: Scott Wood, Tierney Hopkins, Hosein Mirazi, Lu Yan

More than 95% of drug candidates that pass preclinical testing fail in human trials, and no disease-modifying osteoarthritis drugs have ever been approved. Current animal models do not always translate to human biology, and single-tissue lab tests do not accurately model cross-tissue signaling.

CellField Technologies built MAJIC, the Microphysiological Articular Joint In a Chip, to solve this problem. MAJIC is a miniaturized platform that combines human cartilage, bone, and synovial tissues into a single integrated system. Rather than studying these tissues in isolation, MAJIC captures how they send signals back and forth to each other. That cross-tissue communication is where much of the biology determining whether a drug works or causes harm happens, and it is what prior models have never managed to capture.

MAJIC was engineered for experimental consistency. CellField has established methods to maintain stable human cell function without the use of variability-inducing additives. The project will support the validated fabrication and use of MAJIC with multiple biological readouts and computational scoring for drug screening.

MAJIC is advancing toward independent validation through a federally recognized qualification network aligned with FDA standards. This will provide pharmaceutical companies, research organizations, and regulators with human joint-relevant drug safety data to speed drug development.