Organovo cofounder and long-time CEO Keith Murphy steps down

One of San Diego, California’s flagship biotech companies, Organovo Holdings, is poised to get a new CEO, according to a statement released by the company on Wednesday.

Cofounder and long-time Chief Executive Keith Murphy will step down on April 21, to be replaced by Taylor Crouch, formerly CEO of eStudySite.

The news was somewhat unexpected for investors, triggering a five percent drop in Organovo’s share price. There’s not too much cause for alarm, however, given a new CEO has already been named and Murphy will remain chairman of the board and continue to advise the company.

Looking ahead, Crouch could bring a new layer of commercial experience and the perspective of the clinical trial industry — Organovo’s core audience. At the same time, its R&D engine continues to grow.

The company was founded in 2007 with 3D bioprinting technology developed by Professor Gabor Forgacs of the University of Missouri, Columbia. The aim from the outset was to build very applicable models of human tissues and organs, replicating both the anatomy and physiology.

One of the hallmark projects has been an increasingly sophisticated liver model, designed with a tissue-specific architecture and a mini ecosystem of cells.

In a recent phone interview, senior director of R&D Deborah Nguyen said the model leads to more human biology functions than standard cultures could ever achieve. It can also demonstrate the effects of drug use over time, with cells and enzymes that last a month, not a week.

“The liver tissues we create show functionality for at least four weeks in culture,” Nguyen said. “So that gives you a lot longer period of time to model different biology.”

In the case of the liver, the base model is comprised of three different cell types; hepatocytes, hepatic stellate cells and endothelial cells. Liver-specific macrophages can also be added when needed to bring in a component of the immune system, Nguyen said.

There’s an obvious need for better toxicity models, to prevent expensive clinical trial failures and to protect future patients. Many other companies are tackling this space, including those taking an organ-on-a-chip approach.

However, 3D bioprinting has unique strengths, which could prove valuable in the “dash to NASH.”

Approximately five percent (15.9 million) of Americans are believed to have non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. It comes as a progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which affects an estimated 75-100 million Americans.

It’s a silent epidemic that is hard to diagnose and study. On the other hand, many analysts are predicting a targeted drug could have blockbuster potential.

Alongside its quest for a perfect liver model, Organovo’s R&D team has been working on creating specific disease phenotypes. Among them, a model for liver fibrosis or scarring, a common feature in many major diseases such as NASH.

Nguyen explained that the company’s models are designed with a lobular structure, similar to that of the liver, which can show the progression of fibrosis.

“Because we have these different compartments, parenchymal versus non-parenchymal, we can actually model these kinds of phenotypes, like bridging fibrosis, that are part of the normal clinical diagnosis of the condition,” Nguyen said. “In that way, we provide this clinical bridge, where you can look at the impact of compounds and see what they do to a very clinically relevant histological endpoint.” 

The liver fibrosis models could be used for drug and biomarker discovery and to increase the overall understanding of how the disease develops.

“There aren’t other systems out there that really enable you to do that,” Nguyen said.

It’s another offering that will keep the company relevant and in a position to push boundaries as it enters its second decade.

Crouch’s job now is to ensure that the products and services sell.

Photo: Sakramir, Getty Images