Where Organ On Chips Will Add The Most Value In 3–5 Years

Panelists emphasized that CROs and CDMOs will be essential to scaling organ on chip adoption, but only if they commit to standardized, commercial execution rather than treating these systems as experimental add ons. As Don Ingber put it plainly, CROs “need to start buying these commercial systems and start scaling” them to make organ on chip studies operationally viable for industry.

Linda Griffith noted that growing interest from biotechs, venture capital, and private equity reflects frustration with the current fragmented NAM landscape. “There’s no one place a company can go to get the NAMs that they need,” she said, pointing to a disconnect between computational NAMs and microphysiological systems. While several companies already operate as specialized organ on chip CROs, Griffith argued the field still lacks a consolidated provider equivalent to established preclinical leaders like Charles River or Jackson Laboratory.

From a regulatory and adoption standpoint, Christine Happle highlighted data sharing as a missing accelerator. Because organ on chip data are often generated in silos, “FDA doesn’t always have information from all of these different sources,” she explained. Encouraging CROs to share data more broadly could help build confidence, support validation, and position CROs not just as service providers, but as key drivers of trust and adoption across the field.