Although animal testing is still required under the ICH and OECD guidelines, drug developers have a strong interest in using human specific models, especially as chemicals and drugs are metabolized differently by animals than by humans. The assay should highlight these differences.

"We are developing a liver thyroid model here, something like this does not yet exist," says Dr. Reyk Horland, Business Development Manager at TissUse. It is used for chemical and drug development. And it is not just a matter of screening in order to reducing animal testing at an early stage. The new assay will be used primarily during safety assessment for registration. Because the development of new human-specific methods concerns safety questions, in order to improve the inaccurate and non-transferable results from animal experiments. The species differences between mouse, rat, rabbit and co. as well as humans are particularly evident when hormone influences are involved.

Further information:
https://www.tissuse.com/en/news/press-releases/