New assay kit transforms drug bioavailability testing

A new PhysioMimix® Bioavailability Assay Kit: Human 18 has been launched, offering researchers the ability to profile human oral drug bioavailability in vitro within their own laboratories. This innovative kit builds on advanced multi-organ Gut/Liver-on-a-chip technology, helping accelerate drug development by addressing limitations of traditional approaches and supporting safer, more effective clinical progression.

Accurately predicting bioavailability is a critical step in preclinical drug development, guiding safe dosage decisions in the clinic. Current methods, including in vitro assays, animal studies, and computational models, face challenges such as limited complexity in 2D cell cultures and poor translatability from animal data. The new assay kit provides a streamlined and predictive solution, enabling earlier and more accurate profiling of bioavailability to de-risk drug development pipelines.

Developed after the success of a similar assay offered through an ADME Contract Research Service earlier this year, the PhysioMimix Bioavailability Assay Kit: Human 18 has been optimised into a convenient format for independent use. It is designed for use with the PhysioMimix® Multi-organ System, integrating human-derived models of the gut and liver into a single system to simulate key processes of drug absorption, metabolism, and clearance. This dual-organ approach uniquely supports both oral and intravenous dosing, allowing researchers to evaluate candidates with precision.

The Gut/Liver-on-a-chip model combines Altis Biosystems’ RepliGut® Jejunum model with a highly characterised Liver-on-a-chip, developed in partnership with Altis Biosystems. The system fluidically links the two organs, accurately recapitulating processes such as intestinal metabolism and hepatic clearance. By enabling up to 18 replicates, the kit provides researchers with robust data to guide candidate selection, improve study design, and minimise the use of animal models.

Dr Yassen Abbas, Lead Scientist, highlighted that the kit reduces the burden of assay development, enabling labs to quickly adopt advanced organ-on-a-chip technology. Dr Ben Scruggs, CEO of Altis Biosystems, emphasised the significance of making this powerful model accessible for in-house use, ensuring better predictive data and more efficient workflows.

This new assay kit represents a step forward in modernising preclinical testing and improving the success rate of clinical drug candidates.

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