New humanised neuroinflammation in vitro platform

Sygnature Discovery, a world-leading integrated drug discovery contract research organisation, has revealed its humanised neuroinflammation in vitro platform. Named SCANME (SCreening for Anti-Neuroinflammation Molecular Entities), the platform is designed to scale up human disease modelling and develop therapeutics for neuroinflammation related diseases, like Alzheimer’s.

The drug development process for neurodegenerative conditions caused by neuroinflammation is extremely slow, with high clinical failure rates exceeding 96 percent. For example, the first drug targeting the amyloid hypothesis for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) was only approved in the US last year, following a 40-year R&D cycle. Due to neurodegenerative diseases being a significant health problem globally, Sygnature Discovery created SCANME to provide a scalable, human-relevant model that can offer robust and reproducible data, quickening the path from compound discovery to clinical understandings.

High Content Imaging

One of SCANME’s key features is its integration of High Content Imaging (HCI) which captures several parameters simultaneously throughout disease modelling. Also, its scalability means it can provide a range of customisable options to suit different research requirements.

Max Mirza, Vice President, Neuroscience Drug Discovery, commented: “Sygnature Discovery’s SCANME platform stands at the forefront of drug discovery by allowing researchers to scale up the application of specialised human iPSC-derived cells, particularly microglia, which are essential for neuroinflammation research.”

He added: “This collaborative project with Axol Bioscience, a leader in manufacturing functionally relevant human iPSC-derived cells, ensures that we provide the highest quality cells and technical support. This effort combines unparalleled expertise and innovative approaches to deliver optimal research outcomes.”