Tessara Therapeutics Ltd Develops Brain-on-Chip Technology
Australian Consortium Launches Quantum-Enabled “Brain-on-Chip” to Accelerate Drug Discovery
TESSARA Therapeutics Ltd
Tessara Therapeutics of Australia spearheaded an international effort to develop a quantum-enabled “Brain-on-Chip” technology, a pharmaceutical industry paradigm shift. This technology uses cutting-edge 3D human neural micro-tissues and quantum sensing to bridge the gap between complex human clinical trials and laboratory cell cultures, offering new hope for treating debilitating diseases like epilepsy, Parkinson's, and Alzheimer's.
Breaking Neuroscience's "Failure-Heavy" Cycle
High risk and startling failure rates have plagued neurological drug discovery. Most promising drugs fail in human trials because standard preclinical models, especially 2D cell cultures and animal models, cannot predict human biological responses. Even because 2D cultures lack brain complexity, animal models often fail to simulate certain human neurodegenerative disorders.
Tessara Therapeutics' RealBrain technique creates three-dimensional neural micro-tissues from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Unlike cell clusters, these micro-tissues use a patented synthetic hydrogel matrix to mimic the brain's extracellular environment. Neurons self-organize into stable, working networks of neurons and glia, creating a “living” model with brain-like electrical impulses.
The Power of Quantum Diamond Sensing
The “Brain-on-Chip” platform's ability to "read" three-dimensional tissues without injury is its breakthrough. The consortium collaborated with Chromos Labs to use quantum diamond micropillar arrays for quantum sensing.
Traditional brain activity monitoring uses obtrusive electrodes or dangerous fluorescent dyes. These diamond-based sensors are biocompatible and image at high resolution without labeling. This “world-first high-aspect-ratio pillar fabrication” detects millivolt-scale electrical signals from deep 3D tissue in real time.
Dr. Nikolai Dontschuk, Chromos Labs' founder and CEO, says the latest research focuses on widening these sensors' “field of view”. In this next phase, we are broadening the field of view to measure electrical impulses across all RealBrain micro-tissues to achieve the most complete network state image, Dontschuk said.
Industrial Scale and Government Support
The platform prioritizes neurodegeneration clinically. The Tessara Therapeutics ADBrain model replicates Alzheimer's disease symptoms including tau phosphorylation and amyloid accumulation in three weeks. This allows scientists to precisely test a treatment's influence on human brain networks before giving a patient a dose.
Along with Alzheimer's disease, the platform has tested neuroprotective drugs like NUZ-001 and Exenatide. These studies showed that the platform could evaluate cell survival, neuron branching "connectivity" and network complexity.
This technique might be used to study anxiety and schizophrenia, the group hopes. Researchers want to create “digital/biological twins” from patients' cells for personalized treatment.
A New Regulation Standard
Scalability has plagued “organ-on-chip” technology. This high-throughput screening technology for 96- and 384-well formats lets pharmaceutical companies examine hundreds of drug candidates at once. Quantum Brilliance is making diamond chips as scalable and accessible as computer hardware by developing production routes. Quantum Brilliance co-founder and CTO Marcus Doherty said this collaboration combines Australia's manufacturing and cutting-edge technologies. He stressed that reliable, quantum-grade diamond is essential for platform adoption.
The research began with a $2.1 million Australian Government Critical Technologies Challenge Program (CTCP) funding. The $12.7 million effort aims to make Australia a quantum biotechnology leader.
Industrial Scale and Government Support
The FDA and other foreign regulators are reducing animal testing as Brain-on-Chip technology develops. “The platform is in perfect alignment with this global regulatory shift toward more accurate, human-relevant methods,” said Tessara Therapeutics CEO Dr. Christos Papadimitriou.
By mass-collecting functional brain activity, the group hopes to transform biotech economics. Neurology should become data-driven and reliable from its “failure-heavy” process.
Phase 1's accomplishment showed that diamond sensors can look “below the surface” of brain tissues. This quantum-enabled technology may soon be standard in labs worldwide as the consortium works toward a commercial prototype, changing brain knowledge and treatment.