Cognitive biomarker assays inform safety and efficacy decisions by measuring network potentiation and synaptic plasticity

Advances the emerging field of organoid intelligence for drug development applications

NEW ORLEANS, Aug. 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — 28bio today launched CNS-3D Plasticity Organoids, enabling human functional endpoints of learning and memory before drug candidates enter clinical testing.

Attrition in neurodegeneration remains among the highest in drug development because drug candidates are selected on evidence that does not predict cognitive outcomes. Molecular biomarkers report pathology or synaptic density, and rodent maze tests approximate learning from behavioral output. Neither directly measures network potentiation or synaptic plasticity, the cellular processes that underlie learning and memory in humans.

CNS-3D Plasticity Organoids pair two human iPSC-derived cortical organoids in a custom electrode array plate, forming a connected neural network that can be trained via closed-loop electrical stimulation. Training and measuring a human neural network in this way is the basis of organoid intelligence.

“Organoid intelligence was never only about computing. Its most immediate value is in drug development, where a human cell-based model that learns can reveal effects on the brain far earlier than current approaches allow,” said Thomas Hartung, MD, PhD, Director of the Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing at Johns Hopkins University.

Cognitive biomarker assays offer two options for evaluating a drug candidate’s effect on learning and memory. The Network Potentiation Assay measures how a drug candidate affects potentiation, the strengthening of neural connections that underlie learning and memory. The Synaptic Plasticity Assay measures a drug candidate’s effect on reward-based learning using a virtual maze-navigation task, a human neural model analog to classic rodent maze-learning assays.

“Neurodegenerative, neurodevelopmental, psychiatric, and brain injury conditions disrupt the same synaptic mechanisms that underlie learning,” said Corey Rountree, PhD, Lead Scientist, Functional Biology at 28bio. “That is what allows the same set of functional endpoints to inform programs across multiple CNS indications.”

CNS-3D Plasticity Organoids and cognitive biomarker assays are now available through 28bio CNS-3D Services.

About 28bio

28bio is a neurotechnology company engineering human brains at-scale exhibiting memory, learning, and cognitive functions. Its Nexon™ platform integrates tissue engineering, neural interfacing, and AI to reverse today’s neurological health crisis by improving the ability to predict which therapies will work in humans. 28bio is committed to advancing ethical standards in the development of brain organoid technology and engineered human cognition.

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SOURCE 28bio