InSphero AG and Charles River Labs have entered a partnership under which Charles River will license its collection of patient-derived xenograft (PDX) tumors to InSphero, and Charles River will leverage InSphero’s 3D cell culture technology to extend its preclinical services using in vitro 3D InSight Tumor Microtissues derived from its existing PDX collection.

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 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, as well as to run combination therapy studies over a range of concentrations and to correlate the tumor response with molecular data.

“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.”

 “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.”