Molecular Devices adds proprietary patient-derived organoid technology with acquisition of Cellesce

Molecular Devices, LLC. , a leading provider of high-performance life science solutions, has announced the acquisition of Cellesce Ltd (“Cellesce”) which specializes in contract development and manufacturing of large scale patient-derived organoids (PDOs) for diverse applications, including drug screening.

Drug efficacy and toxicity testing often rely on immortalized cell lines or animal models that don’t closely mimic complex human biology. This can lead to inaccurate predictions of a drug’s potential and extended drug development timelines. However, a number of retrospective studies confirm a high degree of similarity between the phenotype and genotype of a PDO and an original patient tumor, showing that if a drug worked on the PDO, it was 90 percent likely to work on the patient. This acquisition of Cellesce affirms Molecular Devices’ commitment to investing in 3D biology technologies that transform the drug discovery process and drive development of novel therapeutics.

“By combining Cellesce’s expertise in producing industrial-scale PDOs with Molecular Devices’ market-leading end-to-end solutions for automated organoid screening, we will enable customers to accomplish advanced 3D biology research with a commercial offering that’s never been available before from one provider,” said Susan Murphy, President of Molecular Devices. “This enabling technology will make over 100,000 compound primary screens with PDOs a reality and will accelerate industry adoption of organoids.”

Headquartered in Cardiff, Wales, and backed by a team of scientists, engineers, and manufacturing technicians, Cellesce technology produces uniform, human-derived cell or organoid lines including off-the-shelf colorectal cancer, gastrointestinal, and breast cancer organoids — with pancreatic and lung organoids under development — all at a scale unmatched by any commercial technology available today. The company’s quality-assured, patented bioprocess workflow and unique bioreactors have been proven to increase productivity 20- to 60-fold.

“Molecular Devices has the capability, reputation, reach, and resources to ensure that the Cellesce technology can be further developed, and used to its full potential,” said Vicky Marsh-Durban, CEO of Cellesce. “We’re excited to bring our domain expertise and intellectual property to Molecular Devices, together maximizing impact for customers in revolutionizing drug discovery and unlocking the full potential of human-relevant 3D biology research.”

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