Huntsville, Ala. | October 12, 2016 – CFD Research Corporation has won a $1.5M contract from the National Institutes of Health to further develop and validate a novel in vitro 3D tumor assay. The new assay will accurately model the tumor microenvironment encompassing circulation in the vessels, transport across vessel walls, tumor cells cultured in a 3-dimensional environment, and stromal and immune components.
A multi-disciplinary approach comprising of industry-academic-clinical team with expertise in all facets of the development has been assembled for successful execution. The new capability will be commercialized to pharmaceutical and biotech companies, research labs, universities and non-profit organizations by SynVivo, Inc., which CFDRC spun-out specifically to commercialize this technology.
In prior work, CFDRC successfully demonstrated the SynVivo® SynTumor model, including multi-cell culture and drug screening. Detailed characterization of tumor cell growth, viability, migration and invasion was performed. Drug screening studies demonstrated the ability to model the therapeutic responses, and quantitative differences between the tumor microenvironment parameters were demonstrated.
In the follow-on project, the SynTumor model parameters will be optimized to accurately capture in vivo conditions including diffusion gradients, heterogeneity and multi-cellular architecture. Assays for tumor progression and metastasis for organ specific tumors will be developed. The in vitro model will be validated against in vivo studies as well as clinical data, and demonstrated for use with patient samples.
“We are expanding our collaboration with academic partners at Auburn University and leading clinicians at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, MD Anderson, Clearview Cancer Institute and Conversant Bio,” said Kapil Pant, CFDRC Vice President, “The success of this project will demonstrate the predictive power of the SynVivo platform for personalized drug therapy”.
About CFD Research Corporation: Since its inception in 1987, CFDRC has worked with government agencies, businesses and academia to provide innovative solutions within the Aerospace & Defense, Biomedical & Life Sciences, and Energy & Materials industries. Over the years CFDRC has earned multiple national awards for successful application and commercialization of innovative component/system technology prototypes, multi-physics simulation software and multi-disciplinary analyses. Learn more at www.cfdrc.com.
Contact:
Richard Thoms
Manager, Technology Partnerships
richard.thoms@cfdrc.com // 256.726.4810
