Benzinga | Feb 25, 2021 08:25AM EST

Charles River Laboratories Announces Strategic Partnership with Kibur Medical to Advance Preclinical Oncology Studies

Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL) today announced a strategic partnership with Kibur Medical to offer exclusive access to its implantable microdevice (IMD) for in vivo preclinical oncology studies.

Kibur's Unique Technology

The IMD provides an opportunity to transform how researchers may assess efficacy of oncology compounds in vivo as both individual and combination therapies. Kibur's microdevice technology can hold up to 20 different compounds for local administration, which allow it to:

* Measure interactions between disease tissue and microdoses of therapies to predict the optimal drug regimen;

* Rapidly test multiple combinations at once in vivo in most solid tumors;

* Dose therapies directly into disease tissue, allowing for investigative studies of early-stage compounds where pharmacokinetic properties are poorly understood.

Data-Driven Decisions

According to a study in Biostatistics, oncology drugs have a 97% failure rate in clinical trials. Together with Charles River's leading expertise in early-stage preclinical testing, researchers can utilize the Kibur technology to perform in vivo testing of multiple doses and multiple combinations of oncology or immune-oncology therapies in small cohorts of patient-derived xenograft (PDX), cell-line derived or syngeneic models. Additionally, Kibur's IMD provides both a platform to observe synergies of drug combinations and a time and cost-sensitive testing solution for extending indications of existing oncology drugs.

Excised tumor tissue is analyzed via multiplex immuno-histochemistry, immune cell readouts, spatial transcriptomics and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry providing for rich datasets in short cycle times and thereby improved decision making early in the preclinical process.

Approved Quotes

* "We are proud to partner with Kibur Medical to help advance our oncology service offering. The development of cancer therapies is extremely nuanced, and Kibur's technology provides clients with important data on drug efficacy to help inform their preclinical programs." --Birgit Girshick, Corporate Executive Vice President, Discovery and Safety Assessment, Biologics Testing Solutions, and Avian Vaccine Services, Charles River

* "When looking for a strategic partner, we knew we wanted an organization with global reach and a strong scientific bench. Charles River's longstanding reputation as an industry leader will help deliver our technology to the widest possible network, providing a huge opportunity to help develop the next generation of cancer therapeutics." -- Oliver Jonas, PhD, Scientific Founder, Kibur Medical