Bench-top human metabolism system for improved IVIVE in drug development

Scikon Innovation, Inc., Research Triangle Park NC

Investigators

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Only 13% of investigational drugs that enter clinical trials make it to approval. Seventy-five percent of these failures are due to either unexpected toxicity or lack of efficacy discovered in phase I and II clinical trials. This high failure rate o drugs in late stage development is a symptom of the inadequacy of pre- clinical animal models to accurately predict human biology. Technologies based on human organ systems in vitro has the potential to overcome these limitations by enabling human relevant physiology to be studied earlier in the drug discovery process. In other words, development of more physiologically relevant in vitro systems grounded in human biology rather than animal biology could potentially bring drugs to market faster with fewer failures. The purpose of this work is to produce cryopreserved adult human small intestinal cells and incorporate those cells into an intestine-hepatocyte co-culture system that will better recapitulate human drug and toxicant metabolism in an in-vitro system. The goals of this proposed project are twofold: 1) Test feasibility of a novl approach for cryopreservation and reanimation of human small intestinal epithelium from either cadaver derived or fresh derived jejunum tissue; 2) Test feasibility of a multi-tissue organ systems incorporating both intestine and liver metabolism to enable a comprehensive benchtop in vitro metabolism model using entirely human- derived products for pharmaceutical efficacy and safety testing as well as industrial chemical safety testing