UCB's Commitment to Innovation in Drug Development

Today marked the start of the Liver Ring Trial, the first cross-pharma validation trial to validate the reproducibility and accuracy of a human liver Micro-Physiological System (MPS) in predicting drug-induced liver injury (DILI) and hepatic clearance. As one of the initiators of the Liver Ring Trial, we at UCB are thrilled to be a part of this pioneering initiative.  

The trial leverages TissUse's groundbreaking organ-on-chip technology and esqLABS' advanced computational modelling to enhance drug safety assessment. The consortium aims to evaluate the robustness of MPS data across different laboratories and to provide the confidence to use MPS data to support decision making and, ultimately, regulatory submission. If successful, the effort should change the paradigm in non-clinical drug assessment from current simplified systems to complex in vitro models with improved translation to human studies.

The Liver Ring Trial will be conducted by six pharma companies across Europe (UCB, Sanofi, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Servier, Orion Pharma), TissUse (MPS platform provider), and ESQLabs (expert for AI/ML-based modelling and simulation solutions).

Guided by the support from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the European Center for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM), the Liver Ring Trial pioneers the use of MPS as the next level in preclinical drug assessment.

UCB scientists, Benoit Cox (senior scientist, in vitro ADME), Andre Rodrigues (post-doc scientist, in vitro toxicology) and Reiner Class (Associate Director, in vitro ADME) have generated the scientific and strategic basis for the trial and will lead the consortium.

You can read the full press release here.