Altis has developed a patent-pending stem cell technology recreating the human intestinal epithelium for compound screening and microbiome research. The product is called RepliGut. It will allow drugs to be tested on an in vitro platform that more closely mimics native human biology. Our goal is to enable pharmaceutical companies to identify effective compounds earlier, before clinical trials; to reduce animal testing; and to make the drug development process faster, cheaper, and safer.

Currently, 88% of drugs fail during clinical trials. Part of the reason is that during preclinical studies, drugs are tested using tumor cells and animals. These cannot accurately indicate the way that pharmaceuticals will behave in the human body. The current market lacks a viable method for testing drugs, prior to human testing, and RepliGut will more accurately reflect drug behavior in humans.