InSphero enables early detection of liver toxicity

The 3D-Insight microtissues from InSphero have passed a comparative study. The so-called benchmarking study, conducted by the Schlieren-based biotech company together with the US Food and Drug Administration's(FDA) National Center for Toxicological Research based in Arkansas, found that these microtissues correctly identified the vast majority of compounds that were later withdrawn from the market due to liver safety concerns.

In a press release, InSphero describes this as "market-leading predictive accuracy": its 3D in vitro liver safety platform, which works with 3D human liver microtissues, correctly classified 80 percent of withdrawn drugs as toxic to the liver. At the same time, 89 percent of safe medicines were also correctly labeled. In the case of drugs that target the nervous system, the success rate of InSphero's platform was reported to be 90 percent. According to Dr. Bruno Filippi, Vice President of Liver Safety at InSphero, human liver microtissues thus offer "a highly physiological model with the same throughput as conventional 2D cell cultures, but with far greater biological relevance".

The study was published in the journal "Toxicological Sciences". Since drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is one of the main causes for the discontinuation of drug development, animal testing can be avoided and resources can be redirected to safer and more effective drug candidates in a timely manner, according to InSphero. This has a "significant impact on reducing late-stage failures and bringing safe drugs to market faster," explains InSphero's Scientific Director Dr. Madhu Nag.

InSphero is a spin-off of the University of Zurich and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich. The company is based in the Bio-Technopark Schlieren-Zurich. ce/mm