3D Cell Cultures Prevalent in Pharma: Human Predictive Functional Tissue Models Conference

Earlier this month, the Cambridge Health Institute held its Sixth Annual Human Predictive Functional Tissue Models Conference in Boston, MA. A theme of the conference was “Moving into the Third Dimension,” and talks within this theme focused on the relevance and potential impact of three-dimensional (3D) cell cultures.

In the opening talk, given by James J. Hickman, Professor at the University of Central Florida, argued that a central reason for better in vitro models is to eliminate animals from drug testing. Performing all pharmaceutical testing in an appropriate in vitro model would allow testing paradigms to include gender, age, and other characteristics that differentiate individuals.

The first day concluded with a panel that featured experts from Hoffmann-La Roche, AnaBios Corporation, GlaxoSmithKline, and the NIH. The panel reviewed the 3D models that they have used in their companies; the models included neurospheres, perfusion- and transwell-based models, and hollow fiber reactors. The variety of 3D cultures that are being used at these companies demonstrates the continued emergence of 3D technologies and the increasing interest by pharmaceutical companies in using 3D to improve their success rates.

Throughout the two-day conference, talks and breakout sessions repeatedly brought up philosophical questions about 3D models in drug testing. Where will the 3D models fit in the drug testing timeline? Will animal models ever be replaced? What data is necessary to replace animal models? Can 3D models be high throughput? Whose role is it to prove to governing safety organizations that the models provide relevant data?

Although these discussions show that 3D’s place and prevalence is still largely to be discovered, 3D cell cultures are making their way into almost every pharmaceutical company because the potential payoff of getting safer drugs to market is so large.