TOPPAN Holdings Announces Collaborative Research Agreement to Evaluate Potential Applications of Cell Culture Technology
28 November 2023: TOPPAN Holdings, a global leader in communication, security, packaging, décor materials and electronics solutions has executed a research collaboration agreement with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center to evaluate TOPPAN Holdings’ cell culture technology as a tool for advancing personalized medicine and drug screening efforts.
The three-year collaboration will focus on using invivoid™, TOPPAN Holdings’ proprietary 3D cell culture technology, to create in vitro “cancer patient avatars” using patient-derived tumor tissue. Anticancer drugs will be administered to avatars and technique’s clinical utility for evaluating drug efficacy will be assessed.
Research will be led at MD Anderson by Gregory Lizee, Ph.D., professor of Melanoma Medical Oncology, and Scott Kopetz, M.D., Ph.D., professor of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology. Through this work, TOPPAN Holdings aims to establish a testing method employing invivoid™ for selection of anticancer drugs, with goal of improving personalized medicine opportunities.
As cancer diagnosis and treatment advances, various cancer types and related genes are being uncovered and identified in field of fundamental research. Based on this knowledge, several types of tests are conducted to evaluate the efficacy of anticancer drugs. These include genetic testing and testing using mice into which patient tissues have been implanted, known as patient-derived xenograft (PDX) mouse models.
To address these issues, TOPPAN Holdings has collaborated with Professor Michiya Matsusaki of Osaka University’s Graduate School of Engineering to develop invivoid™, a 3D cell culture technology that makes it possible to replicate biological tissue. TOPPAN Holdings is also using invivoid™ in joint research with the Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research (JFCR) to compare PDX mouse models with patient avatars for 20 cancer cases, with positive results having been confirmed for the efficacy of a cumulative total of 56 sets of anticancer drugs.
Building on this background, TOPPAN Holdings aims to use invivoid™ to culture patients’ cancer cells outside the body and enable accurate evaluation of anticancer drugs. Through research activities, TOPPAN Holdings aims to acquire CLIA lab certification,3 launch a cancer testing business in the U.S., and provide personalized cancer care in which optimal anticancer drugs can be selected for each individual patient.
Research Period: Through June 2026.
www.holdings.toppan.com/en/invivoid/
