The process of developing new drugs is notably time consuming and costly. It typically takes 10–15 years to bring a new drug to market, with an average expenditure of around $5 billion.1 Breaking down these costs, preclinical development is responsible for 63% of the total, while clinical trials comprise 32% of the expenditure.2 A significant challenge in this process is the reliance on animal models and cell lines derived from ani­mals during the preclinical phase. This reliance is problematic due to the significant biological differences between species, particularly in ion channels, metabolic pathways, and pharmacokinetics.3 Indeed, numerous pharmaceuticals have advanced through preclinical and clinical stages and have been on the market — sometimes for several years — before being withdrawn by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) due to unforeseen human toxicity. One study estimates that approximately 40% of new drugs fail in clinical trials due to unpredictable responses and unforeseen toxicity in humans despite successfully passing preclinical evaluations using animal models.4 A key factor contributing to this unsuc­cessful transition from promising drug candidates to safe, widely used treatments is the absence of model systems that effectively mimic the normal functioning of human organs and their reactions to medicinal compounds.