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KIRKSTALL AWARDED BBSRC/NC3Rs GRANT: GLIOBLASTOMA
Imaging Biometrics Limited announced that its subsidiary, Kirkstall Limited, has been awarded a BBSRC/NC3Rs grant to partner with Nottingham Trent University on developing a glioblastoma 'tumour on a chip' model. This research aims to create a more accurate, human-relevant platform for testing glioblastoma treatments, potentially improving drug development success rates and reducing animal testing. The company views this grant as validation of its acquisition strategy, integrating Kirkstall's organ-on-a-chip technology with Imaging Biometrics' MRI analysis software to address glioblastoma from research to patient care. Disclaimer*
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[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n \nImaging Biometrics Limited\n(\"IBAI\" or the \"Company\")\n \nKIRKSTALL AWARDED BBSRC/NC3Rs GRANT FOR GLIOBLASTOMA 'TUMOUR ON A CHIP' RESEARCH\n \nImaging Biometrics Limited, the Main Market listed healthcare technology group, is pleased to announce that its subsidiary Kirkstall Limited (\"Kirkstall\") has been selected as an industry partner in a collaborative research programme focused on developing a living glioblastoma 'tumour on a chip' model, in partnership with Nottingham Trent University (\"NTU\").\n \nBackground\nKirkstall is a pioneer in organ-on-a-chip technology, developing microfluidic platforms that replicate the behaviour of living human tissue outside the body. Its Quasi Vivo® system enables cells and tissues to be maintained under physiologically relevant flow conditions, making it an established tool in academic and pharmaceutical research settings globally.\n \nThe Research Programme\nThe programme is led by Professor Gareth Cave of NTU's School of Science and Technology and aims to create a microfluidic 'tumour on a chip' system capable of mimicking the key features of the human brain environment in which glioblastoma develops - the most aggressive form of brain cancer in adults. Despite current standard of care comprising surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, most patients survive just ten to fifteen months following diagnosis, with fewer than 6% of patients surviving beyond five years.\nA central challenge in glioblastoma drug development is the blood-brain barrier - the brain's natural protective shield - which makes it difficult for therapeutic compounds to reach tumour cells. Existing preclinical models, including animal-based systems, often fail to accurately replicate this barrier, meaning many potential drugs show promise in early testing but do not work in patients.\nThe Kirkstall platform will be used to grow human-derived cells inside a microfluidic chip to form a blood-brain barrier, before introducing glioblastoma cells to model how tumours develop and how candidate drug compounds traverse the barrier and reach the cancer. Fluid will flow through the device in a manner analogous to blood movement through vessels, enabling the cells to behave as they would in the human body. Advanced imaging techniques - including microscopy, ultrasound and MRI - will be employed ...