InSphero, a biotechnology company based in Schlieren in the canton of Zurich, and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) have entered into a partnership with the aim of driving the discovery of drugs to treat Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH), further details of which can be found in a press release. This is an inflammation of the liver caused by a build-up of fat in the organ. VUB and InSphero have entered into a licensing agreement for the development and commercialization an in vitro NASH model.
According to the InSphero press release, VUB is a leading organization in the area of liver biology and NASH research. InSphero will contribute its market-leading 3D cell culture technology to enhance drug discovery activities within the scope of this partnership. This will create a modern in vitro model that covers the entire development process from screening new molecules against NASH to the mechanistic investigation of screening hits.
The translation of VUB’s in vitro NASH model into the automated screening platform of InSphero is the key step in efforts to create an efficient discovery technology for industry and academic researchers, as Jan Lichtenberg, CEO and co-founder of InSphero AG, explains in the press release.
“NASH is a complex disease that requires more efficient and effective methods for drug discovery”, comments Professor Leo van Grunsven, Head of the VUB Liver Cell Biology Research Laboratory, in the press release. The partnership with InSphero will allow researchers around the world to make use of the latest developments in the field of in vitro technology.
InSphero is a spin-off from the University of Zurich (UZH) and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH). The company is headquartered at Bio-Technopark Schlieren-Zurich.
