U.S. Patent for Virtual Liver

A Bangalore based Firm, Strand Life Sciences founded by the professors of The Indian Institute of Sciences, Bangalore has acquired the patent for the virtual liver, which is a software capable of simulating normal liver functions and can be used by pharmaceutical companies to test the outcome of drugs on liver, before It can be administered to animals or humans.

In the multi-million dollar Pharmaceutical industry , more than 50% of the drugs fail to clear the clinical trials and more than 60 % result in damaging the liver as all the toxins in the body are cleared by  it.  It is the only body organ which is capable of regenerating itself.  But if the damage is too much, even it can’t heal. Very important advantage of this artificial liver is that it can save a lot of time and energy associated with repeated animal and human trials required for a drug test. It predicts the toxicity of drug very early on.

The Virtual Liver, which is in the industry for the past two years is being used by pharmaceutical companies all over the world. The software is also useful for research labs, academics and biological companies to Data Mining and Analysis. At present, the company’s revenues are at Rs. 45 Crores of which 90% are from international markets. As stated by Mr. Kalyana Sundaram Subramanian, The chief Scientific Officer, the software is expected to be awarded the patent rights, even in Europe shortly.