The German company will offer clients access to Alvetex Scaffold, a culture technology provided by Reinnervate Ltd that mimics the way cells grow in vivo and produces cells that more closely mimic the realistic growth of tumour.
Reinnervate’s Commercial Director, Richard Rowling, told Outsourcing-Pharma.com that using the technology, Oncotest “customers can test how specific compounds act on human cells.”
Oncotest had been using their own soft agar procedures along with other 3D cell cultures but had reached limits in cell productivity and treatment. The deal with Reinnervate will allow further discovery and development in the research of patient tumour samples.
Rowling added that “after trying lots of other 3D technology, Oncotest have picked Reinnervate. The ease of use and added benefit to automated proteins has given a competitive edge for Oncotest.”
Alvatex Scaffold
The Alvatex Scaffold technology – named among the winners of The Scientist magazine’s ‘Top 10 Life Science Innovations of 2010’ – will also benefit due to increased publicity in the deal.
Rowling said that the agreement is “another way to spread the message about Alvatex, raising its profile in the area of cancer research. This shows the world that an independent cancer research organization has specifically chosen Reinnervate and our unique Alvatex Scaffold technology.”
Though made from the same polystyrene material as standard cell culture plastic, Alvatex is structurally different and has been proven to grow cells which retain cell architecture more like that of an organism than the standard, according to a 2010 study by LGC Bioscience Limited.