Human pluripotent stem-cell-derived cardiomyocytes in cardiovascular drug discovery and development

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is an alarming health problem responsible for a large percentage of fatality worldwide. Current treatment is limited and research is ongoing to address this serious health problem. As mortality rates rise, the demand for novel therapeutics has pressed the pharmaceutical industry to explore alternative approaches for CVD drug development. Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) hold great promise in bringing new effective cardiovascular treatments to the market through providing an improved testing platform for pre-clinical drug screening. Both stem cells derived from pre-implantation human embryos or somatic cells by reprogramming are under intense investigation for their potentially valuable attributes of cell renewal and pluripotency. This approach aims to overcome the lack of appropriate human cardiac disease models for toxicology testing by providing a novel system that is scalable, reproducible and from an inexhaustible source. Here we review the opportunities for cardiomyocytes derived from human stem cells in the field of cardiovascular drug development.