"CELLBLOKS" - A novel 3-D liver model platform to predict human drug-induced liver injury (DILI)

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"Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is one of the leading cause of drug failure during development as well as number one cause of post-market drug withdrawal. There is a need for a more predictive tools to assess liver toxicity risks early in drug discovery. Human cell based laboratory models for safety screening are increasingly being developed as alternative methods to animal testing.Cell culture involves the growth of living cells in laboratory conditions without using animals in order to gain better understanding of body function, disease or to develop new drugs. Conventionally, cells are grown in 2-D glass or plastic surfaces such as Petri-dishes and plates.Researchers across many sectors, including pharmaceutical industry, research organisations and universities apply conventional cell culture for the growth and testing of mammalian cells. Cell culture has played a vital role in many life science discoveries such as the development of new drugs or vaccines. However, the results often lack efficiency as cell growth is constrained within the available 2-D surface when compared to true three-dimensional (3-D) environments of living tissue.ReVivoCell Ltd is developing a novel cell culture platform, that can better simulate the function of the liver in an _in-vitro_ setting. Existing 3-D cell culture technologies lack liver specific functionality, are expensive, difficult to use and are not easily adaptable for different experiments and cell types.This technology would potentially increase the success rate of developing new treatments and reduce the reliance on animal testing. The objective of this project is to assess the feasibility of a newly developed 3-D cell culture platform to mimmic liver-specific microenvironment. ReVivoCell's invention will provide a reliable, fast and cost effective device that could be used worldwide."