Innovation with Brazilian DNA: Chip Developed at Coppe Offers Accessible and Disruptive Solution for the Biotechnology Industry

In a global context where scientific innovation is becoming strategic for sovereign and sustainable development, a technology created at Coppe/UFRJ promises to transform the way Brazil conducts pharmaceutical and toxicological testing. VitaChip, an organ-on-chip device developed by researcher Letícia Charelli during her PhD in the Nanotechnology Engineering Program, offers an ethical, precise, and economically viable alternative to animal testing—reducing dependence on imported equipment and strengthening national scientific autonomy.

The technology reproduces, on a microscale, human organ functions in devices the size of a flash drive. By simulating cellular structures with fluid flow and mechanical stimuli, organs-on-chips provide greater predictability of drug behavior in the human body than traditional methods using animals or two-dimensional cultures.

“In recent years, concerns about the effectiveness of animal testing have grown. The correlation rate between rodent and human toxicity is only 43%. As a result, about 90% of drugs reaching the clinical phase fail, causing multi-billion-dollar losses,” explains Professor Tiago Balbino, the research´s supervisor.

VitaChip stands out for its bold approach: not competing with highly complex international platforms, but instead filling the gap between inaccessible technologies and the real needs of laboratories and companies in developing countries. The device costs up to 60% less than global counterparts (under US$ 8 per unit), can be produced in less than two hours via 3D printing, and demonstrates high biological reproducibility—with less than 5% variation in spheroid size. It also includes an integrated reservoir for sample collection without damaging cells.

“This is a pragmatic breakthrough that proposes a new paradigm of technological accessibility. It is a functional, reproducible tool tailored to the Latin American reality, allowing research groups outside major innovation hubs to access the scientific frontier,” says Letícia Charelli.

The proposal aligns with global trends—such as the recent authorization by the U.S. FDA for alternative methods to animal testing—and with growing pressure for more ethical, effective, and sustainable solutions. For Brazil, it represents an important step toward technological independence, the recognition of national science, and the construction of a more competitive and inclusive biotechnology industry.

What is an organ-on-chip?

Organs-on-chips are flash drive–sized devices that reproduce cellular structures behaving like a human liver, heart, or tumor in a controlled environment. They combine human cells with fluid flow and mechanical stimuli, creating a model that is more realistic than traditional 2D plate cultures or animal testing used in laboratories. The technology offers greater accuracy in predicting how a drug behaves in the human body.