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Find out about our current activities
Click on the news below to find out more about our current activities and media coverage.
13.06.2013InSphero secures CHF 2 Million Financing
To expand its rapidly growing business in the US and East Asia and to meet the increasing customer demand for its 3D microtissues InSphero successfully closed a financing round of CHF 2 million last month.
Read the full media release here.
21.05.2013New Rat Brain Microtissue model - early bird offer
 InSphero introduces a novel, assay-ready 3D microtissue model of the rat brain composed of freshly isolated cells from the whole cortical cell population. Brain microtissues mimic the native 3D structure and morphology of the central nervous system and are stable for at least four weeks in culture. The model is now available with 40% discount for a limited time period. Please inquire for more information about this early bird offer.
Early bird offer information request.
21.05.2013Promega's new improved ATP assay, optimized for 3D Microtissues
At this year’s AACR meeting Promega presented its newly formulated CellTiter Glo Assay specifically optimized for the use of 3D cell culture. The improved formulation exhibits enhanced lytic capacity resulting in an increased recovery of intracellular ATP. Consequently ATP readings more closely follow a linear relationship with microtissue size.
Find more details in poster here.
16.04.2013InSphero featured by Nature: give your cells a more natural environment
 A technology feature in the last Nature issue on the subject of improving culture conditions for cells in vitro highlighted InSphero’s 3D microtissue technology to make cells feel more "at home". This overview of advances in cell culture technologies emphasizes the importance of the cellular environment including medium composition and 3D cellular arrangements.
View publication on official journal website (full access required).
16.04.2013Accelerating the discovery of radiotherapeutic-response modulating drugs
To improve the efficacy of radiation therapy and to limit its tissue-damaging effects, new combinatorial regimens with radioprotectors and radiosensitizers are urgently required. At the AACR 2013 in Washington, InSphero, together with its partners from the Helmholtz Center Munich and Sirion Biotech, presented a novel screening concept to accelerate the discovery of radiotherapeutic-response modulating drugs. This new approach harnesses the capacity of 3D tumor microtissues for long term cultivation and easy growth profiling, clearly demonstrating suitability to screen for drugs with an improved radiotherapeutic effect.
Find more details in poster here.
15.04.2013InSphero opens new office in US and appoints new director
 With its 3D microtissues business growing rapidly across North America, InSphero is now investing in a local presence to facilitate all aspects of customer support and has inaugurated InSphero, Inc. in Cambridge, MA. We are also proud to announce Stewart Hunt as the new Director of InSphero, Inc. who brings over 20 years of experience in the field (see portrait in our April newsletter). We are very confident that Stewart, with his solid life science business background, is a terrific addition to our team and will be of great assistance to our US customers. Welcome Stewart!
Address of our new US office for all our customers from US and Canada:
InSphero, Inc.
Swissnex, 420 Broadway
Cambridge, MA, 02138
USA
15.04.2013New Video: 3D InSight™ Tumor Microtissues
InSphero's 3D InSight™ Tumor Microtissues give easy access to 100's of cell types in biomimetic microtissue format for siRNA based target validation, antibody penetration and for assessment of treatment efficacy in vitro.
Find out more in this new 2-minute introduction video.
02.04.20133D-Zellkultur in München – Join InSphero User Group Meeting on 22 April!
Click here for more.
25.03.2013Pfizer-InSphero joint poster presentation at SOT 2013
Pfizer’s Drug Safety R&D department and InSphero made a joint poster presentation at the SOT-conference in San Antonio with results that highlight the potential of our 3D InSight™ Rat Liver Microtissues for evaluating Kupffer-cell mediated liver toxicity. Kupffer-cell activation by LPS was demonstrated and activated Kupffer cells were shown to secrete cytokines and to phagocytose fluorescent acetylated LDL-protein.
Download poster here.
25.03.2013Tecan to present 3D microtissue project results in free webinar on March 28
Tecan will present exciting data from a joint project with InSphero during Lab Manager Magazine's free webinar on 28th March. The data highlights how drug effects in multi-cell type microtissues can be measured with multiplate readers and how drugs impact cancer cell growth but do not impact stromal cell viability.
Register today to learn more.
05.03.2013New: Optimized 3D cell-culture media
 This month, InSphero introduces specially formulated cell-culture media for the maintenance of its assay-ready 3D InSight microtissue models. 3D InSight™ media are optimized for specific cell and microtissue types and will assure nutrient supply and cell functionality in the scaffold-free 3D spheroid format. 3D InSight™ media are the best way to establish robust and reliable 3D cell-based assays in your laboratory based on InSphero’s renowned experience in 3D cell culture.
Currently, 3D InSight™ media are available for rat and human liver 3D microtissues as well as for cell-line derived 3D microtissues in 125, 250 and 500 ml sizes.
Click here for more product details.
05.03.2013New Product Manual: GravityPLUS™ Kit
 The latest edition of the GravityPLUS™ Kit manual is now available. This kit comprises the GravityPLUS™ hanging drop plate and the GravityTRAP™ microtissue culture and assay plate allowing for easy maintenance of 3D microtissues (up to 4 weeks or more) and easy optical analysis. This new manual guides the user through the process of setting up hanging drop cultures, transfer of microtissues into the GravityTRAP™ plate, medium exchange, dosing and microtissue harvest. We also included a comprehensive step by step protocol for the production of microtissues, using NIH-3T3 cells as an example as well as a helpful troubleshooting section.
Download product manual here.
25.02.2013Join Promega's Discover Glo events with InSphero in Schlieren, Basel and Lausanne!
Find more information here.
29.01.2013New: Convenient and Affordable Embryonic Stem-Cell Test Service launched
 InSphero starts 2013 with an exciting product launch for embryonic stem-cell toxicity testing: The easyEST™, the first automated EST, is now available as a convenient and affordable service offer. It allows a fast and animal-free access to embryotoxicity data for new compounds using a secure protocol that parallels ECVAM Invittox 113. InSphero’s automated hanging-drop system not only allows for greater reproducibility and speed: the easyEST™ requires only small amounts of your valuable compounds (< 50 mg).
Click here to find out more about this next-generation EST.
29.01.2013Patent on InSphero’s core technology granted
 The European Patent Office (EPO) and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) granted InSphero full protection of its GravityPLUS hanging-drop technology in December 2012. Patent offices in many other countries are expected to follow within the coming months.
InSphero’s core patent WO2010031194 describes multiwell-plates, which allow the generation of hanging drops for 3D cell culture using convenient top loading of the cell suspension. InSphero has commercialized a number of SBS-compatible 3D cell culture plates for spheroid generation, which are based on this patent.
CEO Dr. Jan Lichtenberg commented this important decision in InSphero’s favour: “Our customers are aware of the importance of intellectual property in our industry as it protects the efforts and investments made into the creation of new technology. We are glad that two important patent offices have accepted our claim and granted protection of the GravityPLUS technology. This decision helps InSphero to protect the market from technically inferior imitations of our technology.”
29.01.2013New InSphero publication in ipt: 3D Cell Culture for Compound De-Risking
 Jan Lichtenberg and Jens Kelm discuss the challenges involved in developing organotypic 3D cell models for safety and efficacy testing in this article recently published in Innovations in Pharmaceutical Technology (ipt). While strides are being made towards major improvements in assay predictive power the authors point out the central importance of a thorough validation to ensure valid and reproducible results.
View publication on official journal website (open access) or see PDF version here.
25.01.2013New InSphero publication in GEN: Multiplexed drug assessment in multi-cell type 3D colon cancer microtissues
 Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN) recently featured a publication, co-authored by InSphero, Tecan, Promega and Sirion Biotech, highlighting the use of fluorescence and luminescence reporter systems to assess drug sensitivity in distinct cell populations of multi-cell type 3D cell culture models.
View publication on official journal website (open access).
27.11.2012InSphero to give new SLAS 2013 Short Course on 3D Cell-Based Assays for Drug De-Risking
In response to the rapidly growing use of 3D cell-based models in industry and academia, the Society of Laboratory Automation and Screening has added a short course on the topic to its next annual meeting agenda. The course will be given by InSphero's co-founder and CSO Jens Kelm together with international experts Prof. Ursula Graf (ZHAW, Switzerland), Terry Riss (Promega, USA) and Lisa Minor (In Vitro Strategies, USA). The course takes place during the SLAS Annual Meeting 2013 in Orlando, Florida on January 13. For details on this training opportunity, please see official program here.
22.11.2012InSphero’s 3D InSight™ human liver model described in Archives of Toxicology
InSphero’s novel multi-cell type human liver microtissue model comprising hepatocytes, Kupffer macrophages and endothelial cells was described recently in Archives of Toxicology. The model demonstrates excellent long term stability for up to 5 weeks in culture making long term repeated-dose toxicity testing possible in 96 well format. Moreover, InSphero's human liver model is the first to make inflammation-mediated toxicity testing possible in vitro, as demonstrated for Trovafloxacin.
View publication on official journal website (open access).
22.11.2012InSphero is moving to new headquarters and expanding production
 Great news! At the end of the year InSphero is going to move to a new, bigger facility in the Zurich area with lots of room for more staff, offices and equipment! We are aiming to manage this change without significant delays to customer projects, order processing, product deliveries or technical support. Our new address from Jan 1, 2013 will be:
InSphero AG
Wagistrasse 27
8952 Schlieren
Switzerland
Phone, fax, e-mail, etc. will not change and can be found here.
30.10.2012InSphero ranked #2 startup of Switzerland in TOP 100 Swiss Startups 2012
Around 100 experts from the Swiss business startup scene have ranked InSphero number 2 startup (all categories) in Switzerland and, again, as in 2011, number 1 startup in the biotech space. The jury recognized the global success of InSphero's 3D microtissue technology for more predictive compound testing and the fact that InSphero currently counts 7 of the top 10 global pharmaceutical and cosmetics companies as customers.
At InSphero we are proud of this accomplishment and appreciate the recognition accorded to the company and its dedicated employees.
Find more information on official TOP 100 website (in German only).
Read media coverage by Handelszeitung Special (in German only, PDF version here).
Read the full media release here.
15.10.2012High content screening application note from InSphero and PerkinElmer is featured in Nature Methods
 Nature Methods recently featured a high content screening application note, co-authored by InSphero and PerkinElmer, showing how different characteristics of 3D microtissues can be analysed using the Operetta® High Content Imaging System. Drug sensitivity of tumor microtissues was visualized and quantified by several cancer-associated biomarkers (CathepsinB activity, Hypoxia and MMP activity) using different far infrared dyes applied regularly for near infrared imaging in vivo.
View application note on official journal website.
25.09.2012Malvika Bhatt joins InSphero's USA sales team
 Following InSphero's business expansion in North America with new microtissue products and services, the company recently hired Malvika Bhatt as Sales Manager, East Coast. Malvika has a broad experience of the North American life sciences market, having previously worked in sales and marketing for Dualsystems Biotech and MJS Biolynx. "Malvika is very motivated to get started and ideally placed to give a great service to our customers on the East Coast of the USA", says Tony Rutt, Global Sales and Business Development Manager at InSphero.
13.09.2012Cyprotex offers new long-term toxicity testing service using InSphero 3D InSight™ Liver Microtissues
 InSphero is proud to announce together with Cyprotex PLC (LSE: CRX), the specialist preclinical contract research organisation (CRO), a joint service offering which combines the expertise of both companies to provide customers with advanced cellular models of drug-induced toxicity in the liver. Cyprotex uses InSphero's liver models to perform this screening service at its laboratories.
Find more product information here.
Read the full media release here.
28.08.2012New application note with PerkinElmer: High content analysis with InSphero’s 3D microtissues
 InSphero and PerkinElmer present a high content screening application to analyze different characteristics of 3D microtissues with the Operetta® High Content Imaging System. Drug sensitivity of tumor microtissues was visualized and quantified by several cancer-associated biomarkers (CathepsinB activity, Hypoxia and MMP activity) using different far infrared dyes applied regularly for near infrared imaging in vivo. View the full application note here.
28.08.2012InSphero joins Oncotyrol – world-leading Austrian consortium for novel anticancer treatments
 InSphero is partnering with Oncotyrol to foster the development of personalized anti-cancer treatments based on InSphero’s tumor microtissue models. Within this collaboration novel tumor microtissue models will be developed and used for biomarker and drug discovery.
Official consortium website.
06.08.2012GravityPLUS nominated for 'Best Drug Discovery Product of the Year 2012' Award
 InSphero's widely used GravityPLUS platform for scaffold-free 3D cell culture in hanging drops has been nominated for the 'Best Drug Discovery Product of the Year 2012' Award at ELRIG. To support us, please vote until August 19 for GravityPLUS using this link. Thanks!
24.07.2012InSphero coordinates EU project for next-generation drug screening device
 InSphero is proud to announce that it will coordinate a Future Emerging Technology (FET open) project funded by the European Union to develop, together with leading academic and industrial partners, "The-Body-on-a-Chip". This system will be designed to enable the culture of different, inter-connected 3D microtissues for early-stage compound de-risking. On board are Astra Zeneca, ETH Zurich, Ifado Dortmund, and KU Leuven.
Find more information on the project here.
Read the full media release here.
24.07.2012New technical note: Measure apoptosis in 3D microtissues
 In this note we show step-by-step how to measure caspase-3/7 activity in InSphero 3D microtissues using Promega's Caspase-Glo® 3/7 assay. The full technical note can be found here.
19.07.2012Join our workshop on 3D Cell Culture on Sep 7 in Manchester, UK
Find more information on our half-day workshop here.
03.07.2012New product: 3D InSight™ Human Liver Microtissues
 Today, InSphero launched new 3D InSight™ Human Liver Microtissues for more efficient in-vitro drug screening. A co-culture model, delivered ready for use in established 2D screening workflows, 3D InSight™ Human Liver Microtissues offer more than 5× longer lifetime than conventional liver models as well as the option of screening for inflammation-related toxicity.
Find more product information and special introductory offer here.
Read the full media release here.
See past news
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For further questions please contact: Manuela Vujevic, Head of Marketing Communications, manuela.vujevic@insphero.com, phone +41 44 515049-0
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High content analysis has become an indispensable tool for phenotypic drug screening. In a technology feature article published by Nature Methods, Jacob Tesdorpf emphasizes the importance of organotypic 3D cell culture models to foster new screening concepts.
