Heart drug innovation from Cyprotex

Locally based drug analysis specialist Cyprotex has launched a new “in vitro” service which is able to accurately identify drugs which cause structural damage to the heart.

It service combines state of the art 3D cell culture methods with confocal high content imaging technology.

The 3D microtissues are formed from three different types of cardiac cells present in the heart. Using this method, the cells are able to beat spontaneously in a similar manner to the human heart.

Imaging technology uses fluorescent dyes to stain particular regions of the cell to identify changes in response to increasing doses of pharmaceutical drugs.

The service is complementary to Cyprotex’s other cardiotoxicity analytical procedure such as eCiphrCardio which evaluates changes in electrical activity in the heart which may lead to cardiac arrhythmia.

Cyprotex’s chief executive Dr Anthony Baxter said: “Drug induced cardiovascular toxicity is the leading cause of attrition during drug development.

“Our expertise in the field of in vitro toxicology has enabled us to develop a highly predictive and sophisticated model for correctly identifying cardiotoxicity which can be applied at an early stage of the drug development process.”