Reprocell joins Medicines Discovery Catapult to speed up drug development

A UK-based human tissue research company has teamed up with Medicines Discovery Catapult to help drugs succeed during clinical trials.

Reprocell will work with Medicines Discovery Catapult’s Virtual R&D platform to predict how drugs will behave in patients during clinical trials.

The company will conduct assays utilising fresh human tissue to provide the most relevant model to predict how drugs will behave in patients. It’s hoped that this approach will help determine which drugs will succeed in clinical trials, where it’s thought that 80-90% currently fail.

Particularly, Reprocell hopes to overcome the logistical and ethical challenges surrounding the use of human tissue in pre-clinical drug development by providing contract laboratory services in predictive human fresh tissue assays. Reprocell will use its human ex-vivo pharmacology models as a way to bridge the gap between in-vivo data and clinical trials.

By using predictive human data, Reprocell aims to identify projects that have less risk and add commercial value through early indications of drug safety, efficacy and absorption characteristics, informing early proof-of-concept

Dr David Bunton, chief executive officer, Reprocell Europe, said: “Reprocell is globally recognised as the world leader in the use of ethically-sourced human fresh tissue to better predict drug efficacy and safety during pre-clinical drug development. We are excited to be working closely with the Medicines Discovery Catapult and to be part of a select group of companies developing innovative approaches to drug discovery. We hope that our combined services will accelerate drug development to the benefit of many UK biotechs.”

Dr Karen Bingham, chief operating officer, Reprocell Europe, commented: “Ethically-sourced human tissue samples are such an important resource for the prediction of efficacy and safety of novel drug compounds and are becoming increasingly important in the area of precision medicine. It's crucial that the NHS, industry and academia work together through collaborations such as Medicines Discovery Catapult in order to maximise use of this precious resource.”