InSphero Launches 3D InSight™ Monkey Liver Microtissues

InSphero AG, the leading supplier of advanced, yet easy-to-use 3D cell culture-based solutions for drug discovery and development, today announced the launch of 3D InSight™ Monkey Liver Microtissues, further expanding the company’s suite of organotypic 3D liver models for in vitro safety and efficacy testing. Data describing the model’s characterization and application as an alternative to drug testing in animals was presented on Wednesday at the Society of Toxicology’s 56th Annual Meeting and ToxExpo in Baltimore, Maryland.  

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) remains one of the most common causes of late-stage failure in drug development and post-market drug withdrawal. Testing in non-human primates is often required to assess toxicity and potential liver-related side-effects prior to Phase I clinical trials in human patients. 3D InSight™ Monkey Liver Microtissues are a 3D spheroid liver model comprised of primary cynomolgus hepatocytes that serve as an in vitro alternative to in vivo animal tests, enabling testing species-specific effects of a drug on liver function and toxicity in preclinical studies. Viable for more than 28 days in culture, Monkey Liver Microtissues allow long-term drug exposure for predicting DILI and identifying potential mechanisms of toxicity.

InSphero Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Patrick Guye says, “Our 3D monkey liver model addresses the growing trend to reduce or replace the use of animal models in safety testing with more biologically relevant in vitro cell based models. When studies in non-human primates are still required, pre-testing in vitro can help safety and investigative toxicology groups to more effectively plan and minimize the use of costly and ethically charged animal testing. When combined with our human, rat, and dog liver models, our 3D monkey liver microtissues provide toxicologists a more complete toolbox of highly predictive human and animal-derived liver models for in vitro safety testing.”