Therapeutic Area Overview

Treatments for respiratory diseases represent an enormous, unmet medical need with limited therapies currently approved for use. Despite many compounds demonstrating beneficial effects in animals models, very few translate into successful therapies. To improve translational efficacy of respiratory animal models, researchers are calling for the development of new druggable targets, better biomarkers, and the use of more clinically relevant endpoints in preclinical animal studies, including better assessment of lung function.

The Vium Digital Platform provides an innovative solution that enables automated, high-throughput longitudinal monitoring of lung function in respiratory disease models in the home cage.

Pseudomonas aerginosa Model of Lung Infection


Bacterial infection plays an important role in the pathogenesis of respiratory diseases, including chronic obstructive airways disease, and cystic fibrosis (CF). Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the most common and clinically important bacterial pathogen in patients with CF. 

In this study, we hypothesize that Vium’s automated Digital Biomarkers, specifically Breathing Rate, will provide physiologically relevant data to assess respiratory disease progression in a PA01-induced mouse model of lung infection.

Vium’s Digital Platform Allows Researchers to

  • 1. Non-invasively track disease progression and pulmonary dysfunction
  • 2. Collect more frequent, real- time data points 
  • 3. Optimize sample size requirements due to large effect sizes
  • 4. Complement traditional inflammatory biomarker analyses

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Paraquat Model of Lung Injury


Animal models of lung injury play an important role in understanding the pathogenic mechanisms of respiratory diseases, including acute lung injury (ACI) and pulmonary fibrosis (PF), and in developing novel therapies. The paraquat (PQ)-induced model is a commonly-used and well-described model of lung injury due to its rapid disease onset and clinical translation. 

In this study, we hypothesize that Vium’s automated Digital Biomarkers, specifically Breathing Rate, will provide physiologically relevant data to assess respiratory disease progression in a PQ-induced rat model of lung injury.

Vium’s Digital Platform Allows Researchers to

  • 1. Non-invasively track disease progression and pulmonary dysfunction
  • 2. Observe disease earlier and for longer periods 
  • 3. Reduce sample size requirements due to larger effect sizes
  • 4. Complement traditional ex vivo tissue analyses

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Bleomycin Model of Pulmonary Fibrosis


Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is a severe, pathological condition in many respiratory diseases, including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a fatal lung disease. Patients present with a non-productive cough and dyspnea, and these symptoms gradually develop into severe dyspnea at rest and right heart failure. 

The bleomycin mouse model is frequently employed to investigate both acute inflammatory, and more chronic fibrotic, processes underlying IPF and to assess therapeutic efficacy of discovery candidates. In this study, we hypothesize that Vium’s automated biomarkers, specifically Breathing Rate, will provide physiologically relevant data to assess respiratory disease progression in a bleomycin mouse model of IPF.

Vium’s Digital Platform Allows Researchers to

  • 1. Non-invasively track disease progression and pulmonary dysfunction
  • 2. Observe patterns and more consistent changes in disease phenotype 
  • 3. Reduce sample size requirements due to larger effect sizes
  • 4. Complement traditional hydroxyproline measurements for collagen 

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Interested in Learning More About Vium Smart Housing for Respiratory? Let us know

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