Summary:
Sophion Bioscience has launched Ethica M, a high-throughput organ-on-a-chip platform for human muscle contractility studies, enabling faster, more ethical, and scalable drug discovery and safety screening.

Takeaways:

  1. Next-gen platform for functional tissue assays: Ethica M delivers real-time data on drug effects using 3D engineered human cardiac and skeletal muscle tissues.
  2. Turnkey and scalable solution: With integrated robotics, optics, software, and consumables, the system supports high-throughput workflows in standard 96-well formats with minimal cell input.
  3. Ethical and efficient research model: The platform aligns with the 3Rs principles, reducing reliance on animal testing while improving data relevance and experimental efficiency.

Sophion Bioscience, a global provider of automated patch clamping technology, has announced the launch of Ethica M, a next-generation high throughput organ-on-a-chip contractility solution.

Building on more than 25 years of scientific and engineering excellence in high-throughput electrophysiology, Sophion now enters the emerging field of microphysiological systems with an automated and standardized platform for human-relevant muscle contractility research.

Ethica M Empowers Accelerated Drug Discovery and Safety Screening

Ethica M empowers researchers to accelerate drug discovery and safety screening with real-time, functional data from 3D engineered human tissues—delivering predictive insights into drug effects, toxicity, and disease modeling while reducing the need for animal testing.

“Ethica M is the natural next step for Sophion. We’re bringing the same precision, scalability, and reliability that we pioneered in automated patch clamping into the organ-on-a-chip space. The hardest part of any experiment is where biology meets material — and with decades of experience getting that right, we now bring the same confidence and performance to a new domain, helping researchers move from data to decision, faster and with fewer resources,” says Michel Krall Jürgens, CEO of Sophion Bioscience.

At the core, Ethica M is an intuitive and automated solution designed for ease of use and scalability. The platform includes a pipetting robot, optical measurement system with integrated pacing, acquisition and analysis software, 96 well plate consumables with integrated electrodes, and ready-to-use cell kits—offering a turnkey solution for both cardiac and skeletal muscle contractility assays.

With unmatched throughput, low cell use (less than 50,000 cells per tissue), and compatibility with standard 96-well lab formats, Ethica M simplifies experiment setup and delivers more consistent, human-relevant results.

Aligning the 3Rs: Replace, Refine, and Reduce

In alignment with the 3Rs—Replace, Refine, and Reduce—Ethica M supports a more ethical and sustainable approach to preclinical research, without compromising on safety, data quality or decision-making speed.

The company says that Sophion’s launch of Ethica M marks a significant expansion in its mission to advance safer, faster, and more human-relevant drug discovery.

Featured Image: Ethica M is an intuitive and automated solution designed for ease of use and scalability. Image: Sophion Bioscience