Medical equipment manufacturer Xylyx Bio, Inc. announced on Monday that it has received a USD2.45m Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) to advance its InMatrico platform for liver fibrosis drug testing.

This platform aims to improve the discovery and testing of drug candidates for liver fibrosis, a process linked to several chronic liver diseases, including alcohol-associated and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver diseases.

With MASLD affecting 100 million people in the US and limited efficacy from approved treatments, there is a critical need for better drug testing models. InMatrico integrates patient-derived fibrotic liver extracellular matrix and key liver cells to address this gap. The award will support the platform's further development, enhancing drug discovery for fibrotic liver disease.