The UK is a world leader in life science research. Yet many breakthroughs are lost in translation from preclinical animal models to humans. There is now a tremendous opportunity to bridge the translational gap with human relevant technologies. It is time to focus on the human.
The Alliance for Human Relevant Science is an inclusive collaboration of like-minded companies, organisations and individuals. Working together, we will accelerate innovation and create positive change.
Predicting which drugs might have the potential to cause drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is highly complex and the current methods, 2D cell-based models and animal tests, are not sensitive enough to prevent some costly failures in clinical trials or to avoid all patient safety concerns for DILI post-market. Animal-based methods are hampered by important species differences in metabolism and adaptive immunity compared to humans and the standard 2D in vitro approaches have limited metabolic functionality and complexity. The Alliance for Human Relevant Science hosted a workshop at the Royal Society, London entitled Drug-Induced Liver Injury (DILI): Can Human-Focused Testing Improve Clinical Translation? The conclusion was that complex in vitro models (CIVMs) provide a significant step forward in the safety testing paradigm. This perspective article, written by Dr. Katy Taylor and Alliance members representing collaboration across academia and industry, provides a ‘state of play’ on liver CIVMs with recommendations for how to encourage their greater uptake by the pharmaceutical industry.
Full citation: Taylor, K, Ram, R, Ewart, L, Goldring, C, Russomanno, G, Aithal, GP, Kostrezewski, T, Bauch, C, Wilkinson, JM, Modi, S, Kenna, JG, Bailey, J. Perspective: How complex in vitro models are addressing the challenges of predicting drug-induced liver injury. Front. Drug Discov. 5 – 2025.
Safer Medicines Trust publishes an evaluation of the UK’s Early Access to Medicines Scheme
Our paper on the UK’s Early Access to Medicines Scheme has just been published. We found that many drugs expedited as part of the scheme do not have an established safety profile, while several appear to have significant risks for patients. We argue that the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency needs to insist on more robust evidence before fast tracking drugs, and that among other things, the safety of expedited drugs might be improved with greater preclinical use of human biology-based technologies.
Read the paper here: https://lnkd.in/dHSi4FkZ Safer Medicines Trust
One Month remaining to apply for Humane Research Trust Funding Grants
There’s only 1 month left to apply for our latest round of grant funding. If you’re a principal investigator seeking funding for a PhD or post-doctoral led project, make sure to get your application in before the deadline this February.
We’re looking for projects that advance human health and understanding of disease, as well as promote the replacement of animals in research.
Begin your application today: https://lnkd.in/efXtxKV6
Best Practice In Non-Animal Research Methods; 26-27 March 2025, York, UK.
Are you a scientist who uses or is interested in using non-animal research methods to study human diseases?
We’re hosting a conference called ‘Best practice in non-animal research methods’, alongside two other leading UK funders of animal replacement research: Animal Free Research UK and Replacing Animal Research. You’re invited!
Expect inspiring talks, panel discussions, networking opportunities, and technology and research showcases. All of this hosted over two days at the Radisson York from 26 – 27 March 2025.
A limited run of early bird tickets are on sale now;
Academic: £199
Corporate: £299
Non-government organisation: £249
Student/early career researcher: £125
Read the paper here: https://lnkd.in/dHSi4FkZ
Safer Medicines Trust