Carcinotech and CELLINK partner to develop and commercialise protocols for cancer models

Roslin Innovation Centre tenant Carcinotech have entered a partnership with CELLINK, to develop and commercialise protocols for cancer models. The aim is to provide improved speed and accuracy in drug development processes, by leveraging CELLINK’s bioprinting solutions and Carcinotech’s expertise in producing 3D bioprinted living tumors to provide protocols for users to develop cutting-edge cancer models.

Globally, an estimated 19.3 million cancer cases occurred in 2020 alone, with a fatality rate of almost 10.0 million cancer deaths. Breast (11.7%), lung (11.4%), colorectal (10%) and prostate (7.3%) were the most fatal. While cancer continues to affect millions, there are still a limited number of effective therapies available, and those that are available, have a high degree of variation from patient to patient.

Carcinotech has established itself as a leader in producing 3D bioprinted Micro-Tumors as well as 3D models based on cancer cell lines, incorporating CELLINK’s technology for automated workflows that have been perfected over the last 3 years. Working with patient-derived biopsies, immune cells and cancer stem cells to develop 3D bioprinted Micro-Tumors, Carcinotech has been providing the pharmaceutical sector with crucial services in assisting researchers to optimize drug testing workflows.

The protocols on the BIO CELLX will leverage cell line based 3D models and will greatly accelerate research timelines. The 3D Cancer Cell Line Models have been developed to include the physiological representative ratio of 5 key cell types relevant to each cancer with widely available cell lines.

Each of the protocols will enable 3D bioprinted cancer models that have undergone rigorous quality control measures, ensuring their dependability. As part of this agreement between CELLINK and Carcinotech, the protocols will be made available on CELLINK’s BIO CELLX 3D biodispenser. The BIO CELLX is the premier biodispensing system, providing customers with the ability to automate 3D cell culture workflows.  By offering these protocols, CELLINK and Carcinotech will enable drug development researchers to rapidly increase speed as well as accuracy of results.

CELLINK and Carcinotech entered their first partnership in 2020 to further advance 3D bioprinting technology for cancer research. This initial collaboration leveraged Carcinotech’s vast expertise in patient derived tumor replicas and CELLINK’s innovative bioinks, Extra Cellular Matrix (ECM) and Laminin based Bioinks, which enable human cells to grow and thrive as they would in the human body.

Source: CELLINK