{"id":47961,"date":"2026-04-24T18:14:31","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T16:14:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/proefdiervrij.nl\/?p=47961"},"modified":"2026-04-24T18:14:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T16:14:31","slug":"daranamix-wins-proefdiervrij-venture-challenge-multi-heart-plate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/proefdiervrij.nl\/en\/updates\/daranamix-wins-proefdiervrij-venture-challenge-multi-heart-plate","title":{"rendered":"Daranamix wins Proefdiervrij Venture Challenge with Multi-Heart Plate"},"content":{"rendered":"

During our annual Proefdiervrij Event on World Day for Laboratory Animals, we named Daranamix the winner of the Proefdiervrij Venture Challenge 2026. With their innovative technology, they are taking an important step towards animal-free research into cardiovascular diseases. Our director, Debby Weijers, explains: \u201cDe proefdiervrije innovatie van Daranamix maakt veiliger en sneller testen mogelijk voor de volgende generatie geneesmiddelen.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Daranamix team, consisting of Jos\u00e9 Manuel Rivera Arbelaez, Jana Hecking, Mariel Cano Jorge and Robert Passier, developed the Multi-Heart Plate: a human-based model that mimics multiple fluid-pumping heart chambers using reprogrammed stem cells. Combined with real-time sensors, this model delivers clinically relevant data.<\/p>\n

100,000 laboratory animals<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Weijers explains the human-based technology in her own words: \u201cHet model van Daranamix doet vooral onderzoek naar de ontspanningsfase van het hart bij pompen; als die ontspanning er niet is, kan het hart niet volledig volstromen met bloed – dat levert problemen op waar 30 miljoen mensen de nadelen van ondervinden. Per jaar worden 30 klinische trials in mensen gestart, maar de vertaalslag van dier naar mens blijkt niet te maken. Daarom heeft Daranamix een model ontwikkeld dat het probleem na kan bootsen, gebruik makend van menselijke hartspiercellen.\u201d<\/p>\n

This innovation is not only animal-free, but also highly relevant. Cardiovascular diseases are one of the leading causes of death worldwide, and extensive research is being conducted to understand their causes and develop new treatments. \u201cHet team claimt zelf maar liefst 100.000 dieren te kunnen behoeden van proeven – daar durf ik mijn hand niet voor in het vuur te steken, maar het ‘cardiovasculair’ onderzoek zou zomaar eens het voorbeeldgebied kunnen zijn waardoor andere gebieden volgen met proefdiervrije modellen,\u201d aldus Weijers.<\/p>\n

\u20ac25,000<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As the winner of the Proefdiervrij Venture Challenge 2026, Daranamix receives a \u20ac25,000 cash prize from us to further develop their animal-free innovation and bring it closer to real-world application. \u201cVernieuwing en innovatie worden aangevoerd door mensen met een visie die hun nek durven uit te steken. Met de Proefdiervrij Venture Challenge helpen we juist deze pioniers om hun idee\u00ebn ook \u00e9cht in de praktijk te brengen,\u201d besluit Weijers.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\"Foto<\/span><\/div>
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This is what change looks like<\/h2>\n

This is exactly why we run the Proefdiervrij Venture Challenge. Because change doesn\u2019t happen by itself, but through people who dare to do things differently. Thank you to all the teams, judges and partners who took part this year. And a special thank you to Gamechanger Challenge and Stichting Universitas for their commitment and support. We wish all teams in the Proefdiervrij Venture Challenge 2026 every success in taking their ideas forward. Together, we are building a future in which animal testing is no longer necessary.<\/p>\n<\/div>

About Proefdiervrij<\/strong>
We are committed to a world without animal testing. We work together with scientists, policymakers and companies to develop innovative research methods that do not use animals and better reflect human biology. By stimulating and funding animal-free innovations, we accelerate the transition to science without animal testing.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":47539,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[962,968],"tags":[1034,1040,1044],"class_list":["post-47961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-updates","category-wetenschap-en","tag-related-innovatie-en","tag-related-interne-events-en","tag-related-startups-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/proefdiervrij.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/proefdiervrij.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/proefdiervrij.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proefdiervrij.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proefdiervrij.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47961"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/proefdiervrij.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47961\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48139,"href":"https:\/\/proefdiervrij.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47961\/revisions\/48139"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proefdiervrij.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/proefdiervrij.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proefdiervrij.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proefdiervrij.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}