CRX.L Regulatory News (CRX)

Cyprotex PLC

("Cyprotex" or the "Company")

Launch of Advanced 3D Liver Model

Cyprotex PLC (AIM:CRX; www.cyprotex.com), a specialist ADME-Tox and Bioscience Contract Research Organisation (CRO), today announces the launch of an advanced 3D liver model for detecting hepatotoxic potential.

Hepatotoxicity is a major cause of drug attrition and preclinical animal studies often fail to detect this type of drug-induced toxicity. As a result, in some cases, hepatotoxic liability is only detected at a late stage when the drug has reached the clinic. In vitro-based human cellular models are showing promise as alternatives to animal based testing and are able to provide a mechanistic understanding of hepatotoxicity. These cellular models may be performed in either 2D (e.g., cell suspensions or monolayers attached to the bottom of plates) or 3D (e.g., scaffold/support-based or scaffold-free microtissues/spheroids) format. 3D models have advantages over 2D cellular models in the fact that they have improved cell to cell contact and communication, and are amenable to longer term cultures enabling extended repeat dose studies to be replicated. Furthermore, functional drug metabolising activity is observed within the 3D microtissues over extended time periods which may be important for drugs exerting their adverse effects through the formation of a toxic metabolite in the liver.

Cyprotex has specialist expertise in 3D cellular research and has developed various organ specific models (such as liver, heart, brain and kidney models) and co-culture models (where more than one cell type is incorporated in the model). Through Cyprotex's investment in confocal high content analysis equipment for imaging, a detailed analysis of the 3D cellular structures can be performed. Cyprotex's new 3D hepatotoxicity model analyses multiple high content endpoints enabling an accurate prediction of the likelihood of liver toxicity in humans, and allowing the mechanism behind the hepatotoxicity to be explored in detail.

Dr Anthony Baxter, Cyprotex's Chief Executive Officer, comments on the introduction of the new 3D technology: "Developing 3D cell-based models has been a key focus of our research during the past 12 months. Not only are these models proving valuable for toxicology testing but they are also showing promise in efficacy and ADME testing, and are being used within a number of different industries. For example, in vitro reconstructed 3D skin models are now the standard technique within the cosmetics market for testing skin and ocular irritation and corrosion. Although 2D models are currently the preferred choice for testing new pharmaceuticals, this is expected to change as the potential of 3D technology is realised."

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About Cyprotex PLC

Cyprotex is listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange (CRX). It has sites at Macclesfield and Alderley Park, both of which are near Manchester in the UK, and at Watertown, MA and Kalamazoo, MI in the US. The Company was established in 1999 and works with more than 1400 partners within the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, cosmetics and personal care industry and the chemical industry. Cyprotex acquired Apredica and the assets of Cellumen Inc. in August 2010 and the combined business provides support for a wide range of experimental and computational ADME-Tox and PK services. The acquisition of the assets and business of CeeTox in January 2014 has enabled Cyprotex to expand its range of services to target the personal care, cosmetics and chemical industries. In 2015, Cyprotex launched its new bioscience division to expand its capabilities into phenotypic and target based screening. The Company's core capabilities include high quality in vitro ADME services, mechanistic toxicology and high content toxicology screening services, including our proprietary CellCiphr® toxicity prediction technology, bioscience services, predictive modelling solutions including Cloe® PK, chemPK™ and chemTox, and a range of skin, ocular and endocrine disruption services. For more information, please visit www.cyprotex.com.