Corning Life Sciences Introduces Corning® HepatoCells

Corning Incorporate has announced the launch of Corning HepatoCells, a robust, consistent and convenient alternative to primary human hepatocytes for ADME/Tox research.

HepatoCells are single-use, cryopreserved cells derived from primary human hepatocytes using Corning proprietary immortalization technology. These cells exhibit the distinct morphology of mature primary hepatocytes and maintain key functional characteristics, while providing the convenience of a renewable resource.

Primary human hepatocytes, the current standard for researching drug metabolism, disposition, and hepatic toxicity, have many well-known limitations, including high cost, finite lot supplies, and inter-individual variability. Corning HepatoCells provide researchers a solution with a reliable hepatocyte source and improved functionality relative to comparable alternatives.

The benefits of Corning HepatoCells, compared with primary hepatocytes, are:

• Robust induction response for major Cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes
• Consistent lot-to-lot performance
• Convenience of use, with only a single medium required for the entire culturing and assay process
• A high post thaw viability (> 80 percent), as well as recovery and purity

Corning HepatoCells, available and optimized with a companion Corning medium, is qualified for many applications, including Cytochrome P450 induction and cytotoxicity, making it an ideal non-primary hepatic model to study drug-drug interactions (DDI) and liver toxicity of xenobiotics for drug discovery and development.

“We are very excited about the commercial launch of HepatoCells,” said Charles Crespi, director of new product realization, Corning Life Sciences. “This product provides scientists with a virtually unlimited supply of primary hepatocyte-like cells and enables early characterization of ADME and DDI properties for drug developers. It will be a nice complement to our current primary hepatocyte product portfolio.”

Corning HepatoCells will be available in North America starting July 31. The product will be available globally later in 2015.