InSphero introduces human liver microtissue model to predict DILI

InSphero AG announced it has launched their newest liver model, 3D InSight Multi-Donor Human Liver Microtissues, to help predict drug-induced liver injury in clinical drug trials, according to a press release.

Many drugs fail during late phases of the drug discovery process, which cost the pharmaceutical industry billions of dollars and drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is the primary reason for post-market drug withdrawal, according to the release. The 3D InSight human liver microtissues (InSphero AG) is a more sensitive preclinical in vitro model for DILI detection and prediction, which will enable accurate detection of hepatotoxicants and structurally-related non-toxic analogs by researchers during clinical trials.

“By pooling hepatocytes from [five] male and [five] female donors, multi-donor microtissues more closely approximate the average human response, and extend donor lot availability to ensure a long-term supply of cells for microtissue production,” Jens Kelm, co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of InSphero, said in the release. “This makes them an ideal tool for in vitro DILI detection and prediction, compound toxicity screening, mechanistic toxicology, and DMPK studies.”

The release further stated that the multi-donor microtissues have the same structural and functional robustness of single-donor microtissues. However, they “provide a more diverse genetic background to help mitigate bias in models resulting from naturally occurring variations in drug-metabolizing Cytochrome P450 enzymes.”

This new model will be presented at the Society of Toxicology’s 55th Annual Meeting and ToxExpo this week.

Disclosure: Kelm is employed by InSphero.