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Stacey Kostell Vice President and Dean of Enrollment | Northwestern University

Bioelectronic implant project receives $34M funding boost

A collaborative research team, including engineers from Northwestern University, has secured up to $34 million from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) to expedite the development of a bioelectronic implant aimed at treating obesity and Type 2 diabetes. This announcement was made by the agency today.

The funding is allocated for a six-year project focused on developing "Rx On-site Generation Using Electronics" (ROGUE), an implantable device designed to provide biological therapy on demand. The implant, which is only a few millimeters in diameter, contains engineered cells that produce and deliver therapy as needed, eliminating the necessity for frequent injections or trips to the pharmacy.

“This work builds on the biohybrid work seeded at Northwestern, where we are making regulated therapies based on engineered cell factories that can be controlled and maintained by a bioelectronic device,” said Jonathan Rivnay of Northwestern University, who leads device development as a co-principal investigator of the project. “In this work, we aim to develop a minimally invasive living device that can be implanted under the skin and can deliver personalized and regulated therapies.”

Jonathan Rivnay is a professor of biomedical engineering and materials science at Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering. Josh Leonard, another professor at McCormick specializing in chemical and biological engineering, will spearhead the development of genetic circuits to make these engineered cells controllable and productive. Both are affiliated with Northwestern University's Center for Synthetic Biology and Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center.

ROGUE builds upon previous projects led by Rivnay involving "living pharmacies." In March 2021, he received $33 million from DARPA for developing an implantable device to regulate sleep-wake cycles. Later in September 2023, ARPA-H provided up to $45 million for creating an implant capable of sensing and autonomously treating cancer.

“Bioelectronic devices offer a myriad of benefits, including adjustable therapy delivery, dynamic monitoring, and reduced biologics healthcare costs,” stated Tzahi Cohen-Karni from Carnegie Mellon University, who serves as primary investigator for ROGUE. “We are leveraging our collective strengths to develop an effective and sustainable solution to reduce the burden of chronic care for two global epidemics — obesity and Type 2 diabetes.”

Rivnay and Leonard are part of ROGUE’s team comprising 19 co-principal investigators from various institutions such as Georgia Institute of Technology; Rice University; University of California, Berkeley; Mayo Clinic; Bruder Consulting; and Venture Group.

Established in 2022, ARPA-H is dedicated to funding transformative medical research. The ROGUE project falls under ARPA-H’s REACT program and includes provisions for conducting initial clinical trials with patients suffering from obesity and Type 2 diabetes in its fifth year.

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