Optimizing Drug Development

Resource-efficient drug discovery and development requires reliable and precise information about the effects of library compounds on human tissue. However, today’s standard techniques based on monolayer cell cultures can only deliver data of limited biological relevance: their lack of tissue-specific properties prevents a higher predictability on drug effectiveness and toxicity.

Replacing these standard monolayers by innovative three-dimensional (3D) microtissues can significantly improve biological relevance and increase the predictability of lead compounds. And – microtissues can help already at an early stage of the discovery process thus reducing the late-stage failure rate.

3D Microtissues as Simple as 2D Monolayers

InSphero offers the next generation of screening and validation solutions to reflect human tissue function and physiology more closely. Our 3D microtissues are available from our rapidly growing catalog of off-the-shelf tissues and as custom-made mircotissues using your proprietary cell lines or primary cells. The microtissues are delivered to you in a standard 96-well format, ready for you to use.

The key advantages of our 3D microtissues are:

• Our scaffold-free 3D microtissues are devoid of any foreign material and do not require a matrix. Unlike matrix-based 3D cell culture, our microtissues are very close to native tissue from an histological point of vie w. Also, the absence of a bio-artificial matrix enables straightforward use of existing assay techniques as no matrix mo lecules can interfere with the readout.
• Direct integration with existing laboratory equipment, liquid-handling robotics and assay systems. The compatibility with the 96-well standard makes an upgrade from 2D to 3D exceptionally easy and does not require purchasing of additional instruments.
• Our petent-pending production technology guarantees an outstanding reproducibility in terms of microtissue size and density, which are controlled better than <10%. This is a key requirement for a reliable, quantitative analysis.

Multi Purpose Microtissues

InSphero's proprietary hanging-drop production technology offers the unique opportunity to raise multicellular spheroids from any cell type with inherent properties to reaggregate with its neighbouring cells. This process is accelerated by gravity and yields microtissues of defined dimensions according to the number of cells initially inocculated into the hanging drop. Multi-cellular spheroids reflect structural and functional properties of native tissue much better than conventional monolayer culture and therefore represent a valid model for numerous applications in biomedical and pharmaceutical reserach, as for example:
• Compound toxicity testing
• Cell-invasion assays
• Stem-cell research
• Cell-to-cell interactions
• Cell-to-extracellular matrix interaction
• Study of transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics

InSphero's microtissue system (patent pending) enables the generation of various model systems using either tumor-derived cells to reconstitute primary tumors or primary cells to mimick structure and function of diverse organ tissues.