Cell culture

Automated Cell-based Assays: Novel tools overcome the barriers to drug discovery success By Helen Stewart-Miller and Kate Tointon In this article, we look at how commercial products and services are facilitating the automation of cell-based assays to advance drug discovery and accelerate the delivery of new medicines to patients. Cell-based assays are vital tools in […]

Cell Therapy – Falling short of its potential? By Pierre-Louis Joffrin Despite major investment in the field, few cell therapies have gained regulatory approval with limited commercial success. The success of therapeutic products is defined by three factors: safety, efficacy and scalability. Achieving these for cell therapy presents new challenges; overcoming transplant rejection (and GvHD […]

Safety First – Automating cell line development By Jon Newman-Smith Developing and maintaining cell cultures in a stable and sterile environment is of paramount importance to protect samples and increase overall success of drug discovery pipelines. Cell lines are extremely fragile and susceptible to contamination which can be catastrophic in terms of both time and […]

From Genotype to Phenotype: Leveraging functional genomics in oncology By Dr Menelas Pangalos & Steve Rees et al. A challenge in drug discovery is that, at best, only around one in five drug candidates will lead to the launch of a medicine. In 2011, AstraZeneca initiated a strategic ‘5R Framework’ focusing on identifying drug projects […]

3D Organoid Cell Culture – Optimising disease models for research and drug discovery By Dr Amanda Linkous, Hilary Sherman, Iris Li and Dr Richard M. Eglen The use of human-induced pluripotent stem cells (HiPSCs) continues to grow in three-dimensional (3D) spheroid and organoid culture. Although advances in 3D cell culture systems are improving drug target […]

The Growth of Organoids in Cancer Drug Discovery By Dr J. Mark Treherne, et al., Will the automated expansion of organoids help improve the productivity of cancer drug discovery? Increasingly, complex cell-based assays and tissues are routinely used as part of cancer drug discovery. However, conventional monolayer or suspension cultures can be poorly predictive of […]

Increasing Drug Discovery Success With 3D Cell Culture Systems By Dr Richard M. Eglen, Dr Feng Li and Dr Tony Frutos Drug candidates often fail in the clinic for two reasons: they lack efficacy or possess an adverse toxicity profile. These failures can come at a high cost, especially when drug candidates have already progressed […]

By Scott Hickman, Dr Brian Ogilvie and Tim Patterson. Good Laboratory Practice (GLP), are federal regulations that require implementation of a robust quality management system to ensure the validity, integrity and reliability of non-clinical safety data submitted for regulatory evaluation and approval. US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) GLP regulations (21 CFR parts 11 and […]

3D Cell Culture – Engineering Composable, Disease-Tunable 3D Human Microtissues for Drug Discovery By Dr Patrick Guye, Dr Eva Thoma and Dr Olivier Frey In this article, we will share some of what we have learned over the past 10 years as pioneers in the 3D cell culture space and provide guidance for those who […]

Hepatic Model Helps to Predict Clinically-Relevant Botanical-Drug Interactions By Dr Amy L. Roe and Dr Jonathan P. Jackson Use of botanical-based dietary supplements is increasing among people of all ages and in most geographies. Most of these populations have ready access to conventional medications, with significant polypharmacy observed in older adults. The scientific literature is […]

By Dr Phil Jones The mission at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center is to eradicate cancer, which remains a major cause of mortality worldwide. It is the second leading cause of death in the United States and globally, claiming more lives than malaria, HIV/AIDs and tuberculosis combined (or ~1 of every 7 […]

The Future Of Drug Discovery – Cutting-edge technologies meet traditional paradigms in assay development By Dr Roger Bosse With more than 1,500 drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the market, the easiest disease targets are already covered (1). Today’s scientists are challenged to find new compounds, acting alone or in combination, […]

How Phenotypic CRISPR Screening is Revolutionising Drug Discovery By Dr Steffen Lawo and Dr Carlos le Sage Research in drug discovery and biotechnology increasingly exploits gene editing at industrial scale in order to identify and validate new biological targets for precision medicines. The discovery of CRISPR-Cas9 systems has fuelled a rapid expansion of gene editing […]

Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs) – Unlocking their full potential for Drug Discovery By Abby Edwards and Dr Richard Massey Human stem cells were once viewed primarily as regenerative materials for tissue repair through cell therapies. However, advances in technologies and protocols mean that induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are now playing an increasingly important […]

Cell Therapy – Preserving Cell Integrity and Viability To Drive Discovery Mary Kay Bates Cell therapy is poised to play a pivotal role in the development of precision and personalised medicines that will transform healthcare for millions of patients worldwide. Involving the direct use of whole cells or cellular material in patients, cell therapy is […]

Microfluidics – Driving Innovation and Streamlining Single Cell Analysis By Dr Frank F. Craig Microfluidics platforms that harness picodroplet technology (picolitre volume aqueous droplets in stabilised oil emulsions) are unlocking the potential of single cell analysis to enable exciting new discoveries and advances with the potential to transform scientific research, drug development and precision medicine. […]