The Original Human-on-a-Chip Company

Pioneers for Reducing Animal Testing through Emulating Biology

the leading light for human-on-a-chip Research

Hesperos is named for Venus in the evening sky. Like her, we are a leading light, providing world-class research in disease modeling and drug testing through our use of human-on-a-chip systems. Our patent positions and the over 20 years of expertise of both Drs. Shuler and Hickman make us the company to work with for your most difficult problems as well as for cost competitive, routine, human-on-a-chip assays.

The hesperos difference

Hesperos, Inc. brings together biologists, surface chemists, and engineers in order to produce some of the worlds most advanced organs-on-chips. From gene expression to electrophysiology, our biologists recreate key components of various organs. Chemically patterned microchips are engineered to enable real-time monitoring of organ activity. Finally, our engineers utilize sophisticated measurement techniques in order to detect and quantify minute changes.  The result of this collaboration is an ability to study therapeutics in a way which was previously only possible in clinical trials.

As Featured In

Industries We Serve

Rare Disease

Pharmacology

Chemicals, Nutraceuticals, and Supplements

Latest News

FDA Modernization Act 2.0 – Animal testing mandate eliminated

By Hesperos | January 17, 2023

The FDA Modernization Act 2.0 was signed into law eliminating the animal testing mandate in drug discovery.

Chief Scientist named Researcher of the Year by Bioflorida

By Hesperos | November 8, 2022

Hesperos Chief Scientist, Dr. James Hickman, awarded Researcher of the Year at the 2022 BioFlorida conference in Miami

Unique human neuromuscular junction assay establishes skeletal muscle as a key player in ALS

By Hesperos | October 18, 2022

In a recent study published in Biomaterials, a team of researchers led by Hesperos Chief Scientist Dr. J. Hickman established a significant finding to better understand ALS etiology and potential new treatment targets.

FDA Modernization Act – An Open Letter to Congress

By Hesperos | September 7, 2022

Read the Open Letter here We are proud to support this open letter to congress encouraging representatives to pass the FDA Modernization Act.  Originally passed in 1938, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act (FFDCA) was … Read More

Financial Times publishes feature on the state of microphysiological systems, highlighting Hesperos

By Hesperos | August 15, 2022

Financial Times wrote an excellent feature on microphysiological systems, highlighting Hesperos’ Human-on-a-Chip.

Dr. Kronauge appointed as CEO

By Hesperos | May 26, 2022

Hesperos, Inc. appoints new Chief Executive Officer, Dr. James Kronauge I’m excited to join Hesperos as we expand the capabilities of the Human-on-Chip platform enabling drug developers unprecedented insight into specific disease states, especially for rare … Read More

Hesperos Shows Potential for In Vitro Approach to Replace Conventional Animal Efficacy Studies for Rare Neuromuscular Disorders

By Hesperos | April 19, 2022

1) Validates use of Human-on-a-Chip system to mimic disease mechanisms of rare autoimmune neuropathies that cannot be replicated in animal models.

2) Efficacy data from microphysiological system supported the authorization of a clinical study (NCT04658472) in 2021 through collaboration with Sanofi.

Hesperos Validates Utility of Human-on-a-Chip® Approach to Model Rare Autoimmune Disease, Myasthenia Gravis

By Hesperos | November 22, 2021

Hesperos, Inc is proud to announce Dr. Virginia Smith’s recent publication in Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology which validates the Human-on-a-Chip method to model the rare autoimmune disease, Myasthenia Gravis. Read the full press release below: … Read More

Hesperos & Tabula Rasa Awarded $1.9M NIH Grant to investigate preventable Drug-induced Alzheimer’s Disease

By Hesperos | August 27, 2021

Hesperos and Tabula Rasa receive $1.9M National Institutes of Health Research Grant Focused on Preventable Drug-Induced Alzheimer’s Disease

Nature Scientific Reports Study Validates Utility of Human-on-a-Chip to Model NAFLD

By Hesperos | June 26, 2021

New study published in Nature Scientific Reports validates the utility of Human-on-a-Chip to model Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD)

About Our Team

Hesperos, Inc, is a leader in efforts to characterize an individual’s biology with human-on-a-chip microfluidic systems. Founders Michael L. Shuler and James J. Hickman have been at the forefront of every major scientific discovery in this realm, from individual organ-on-a-chip constructs to fully functional, interconnected multi-organ systems which they coined "human-on-a-chip."

Simulating Organ Function

Unlike other tests that extrapolate organ function based on biomarker activity and protein analysis, our models are working systems that recreate muscle and tissue function as well as neural and inter-organ communication. The resulting functional reports closely correlate to what clinicians observe in human clinical trials.

Data Driven Analysis

Our systems generate thousands of data points which correlate to key functional aspects of each organ.  Our custom analyses are then able to parse the data quickly and fruitfully to identify subtle changes in function alongside large-scale shifts in morphology and behavior, yielding insights into each drug.

Interested in working with hesperos?