WILMINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE: CRL) today announced its partnership with InSphero AG, a leading supplier of 3D solutions for in vitro drug discovery and development.
Through this partnership, Charles River will license its collection of patient-derived xenograft (PDX) tumors to InSphero. Additionally, Charles River will leverage InSphero’s proprietary 3D cell culture technology to further extend and complement its pre-clinical services, using in vitro 3D InSight™ Tumor Microtissues derived from its existing PDX collection.
“Over the past year, we have seen an increased demand from our oncology clients for enhanced speed and efficiency in early drug discovery,” said Birgit Girshick, Corporate Senior Vice President, Global Discovery Services at Charles River. “In vitro discovery platforms offer a strong solution, and our partnership with InSphero significantly bolsters our capabilities in this field.”
In vitro 3D solutions enable the evaluation of a compound’s potency compared to standard-of-care drugs. This in vitro testing provides for identification of the most promising drug candidates, tumor histotypes and molecular subtypes. Data collected in these tests can then be used to select PDX models for subsequent in vivo efficacy tests. The data can also be used to run systematic combination therapy studies over a range of concentrations and to correlate the tumor response with molecular data.
“Licensing Charles River’s robust library of PDX tumor models significantly expands our current disease model portfolio in diabetes and liver fibrosis,” said Jan Lichtenberg, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder at InSphero. “The combination of their extensive background in PDX tumors, combined with our proprietary and industry-validated 3D cell culture technology, will help pave the way for future breakthroughs. Expanding our 3D InSight™ Discovery Platform to Charles River’s PDX models will offer scalability, speed and unmet biological relevance in vitro.”
Highlighting Scientific Excellence
At this week’s
AACR-NCI-EORTC International
Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics: Discovery,
Biology, and Clinical Applications, the premier international
meeting featuring novel cancer therapeutics, Charles River is presenting
two posters showcasing its PDX research, including:
- Establishment and Characterization of a Melanoma Patient-Derived Xenograft Model Comprising Three Different Sublines with Distinct Biological Features (Presented: Saturday, October 28, 12:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. EST)
- Targeting the WNT-Pathway in 3D-Cultured In Vitro PDX Models for Pancreas Cancer (Presented: Saturday, October 28, 12:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. EST)
Reprints of each poster are available at Charles River’s booth (#207) during the conference and oncology experts are available for meetings with those interested in discussing research and drug discovery.
To learn more about Charles River’s oncology research capabilities, visit www.criver.com.
About InSphero
InSphero is the partner of choice for leading
pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to bring safer, more
effective drugs to market faster through its robust and highly
physiologically relevant suite of 3D InSight™ Microtissues
and Services. InSphero patent-pending technologies and methods enable
large-scale, reproducible production of scaffold-free 3D microtissues
driven solely by cellular self-assembly. InSphero 3D InSight™
Discovery Platforms include assay-ready and custom 3D disease models
derived from primary human liver, pancreas, and tumor tissues that
provide unrivalled biological insight into liver fibrosis, diabetes, and
cancer. InSphero microtissues are thoroughly validated to ensure the
highest quality, certified for use in a variety of assays, and shipped
globally to customers in a patented, easy-to-use spheroid-optimized
format, or accessible through contract research services. For more
information visit www.insphero.com.
About Charles River
Charles River provides essential
products and services to help pharmaceutical and biotechnology
companies, government agencies and leading academic institutions around
the globe accelerate their research and drug development efforts. Our
dedicated employees are focused on providing clients with exactly what
they need to improve and expedite the discovery, early-stage development
and safe manufacture of new therapies for the patients who need them. To
learn more about our unique portfolio and breadth of services, visit www.criver.com.
