Thermo Fisher Scientific Introduces Tumoroid Culture Medium to Accelerate Development of Novel Cancer Therapies

Gibco™ OncoPro™ Tumoroid Culture Medium Kit broadens access to clinically relevant patient-derived tumor models

CARLSBAD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world leader in serving science, today announced the launch of the Gibco™ OncoPro™ Tumoroid Culture Medium Kit*, the first commercially available culture medium specifically developed for the expansion of patient-derived tumoroids, or cancer organoids, from multiple cancer indications.

While cancer remains a leading cause of death globallyⁱ ,hurdles remain in bringing new cancer therapies to patients, with up to 97% of drug candidates failing in clinical trialsⁱⁱ. More closely resembling donor tissue than traditional 2D cell models, patient-derived tumoroids – cultures of tumor cells derived from individual patients – hold promise in helping improve clinical trial success rates by enabling researchers to better model disease and predict patient response to therapeutics in vitro. Yet use of tumoroids in cancer research has been limited due to challenging culture requirements and a lack of commercially available media systems. Thermo Fisher’s new off-the-shelf, modular tumoroid culture medium kit is designed to make complex cancer models more accessible to researchers.

“Cancer’s unpredictable nature presents a significant scientific and clinical challenge for future discoveries and in delivering life-saving treatments to patients,” said Brian Douglass, vice president and general manager, cell biology at Thermo Fisher Scientific. “Globally, millions of patients and their families still await a cure for cancer despite the decades of advances in research, diagnostics and treatments aimed at helping lower cancer mortality. We developed the new OncoPro Tumoroid Culture Medium Kit so the scientific community can take greater advantage of tumoroid models to help bring drug candidates to market faster and more cost-effectively.”

Thermo Fisher is dedicated to supporting scientists as they elucidate tumoroid workflows and protocols. In addition to democratizing this workflow through the OncoPro Tumoroid Media system, Tumoroid Assay Development Services support outsourced screening and characterization. Customers may also leverage 7 unique OncoPro Tumoroid Cell Lines, representing four different cancer indications including colorectal, lung, endometrial and breast. To improve ease of use, the OncoPro Tumoroid Culture Medium Kit includes a scalable, automation-compatible suspension culture method.

“It is well known that tumor organoids are more predictive of clinical outcomes, adverse events and resistance mechanisms than established 2D cell line counterparts,” said Erik Goka, PhD, vice president of biology at Revere Pharmaceuticals. “The OncoPro Tumoroid Culture Medium Kit allows us to seamlessly integrate tumoroids into our research and drug discovery processes. With the tumoroid media system, we can propagate all our organoid models in the same culture medium system irrespective of the tissue of origin. This media system has been instrumental in allowing us to bring tumor organoids into our lab for everyday use.”

In keeping with Thermo Fisher’s mission of enabling its customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer, OncoPro Tumoroid Culture Medium Kit will not require a license for commercial use**.

To learn more about Thermo Fisher’s OncoPro Tumoroid Culture Medium Kit, please visit thermofisher.com/oncopro.

*For research use only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.
**Excludes diagnostic, clinical and further manufacturing applications.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is the world leader in serving science, with annual revenue of more than $40 billion. Our Mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. Whether our customers are accelerating life sciences research, solving complex analytical challenges, increasing productivity in their laboratories, improving patient health through diagnostics or the development and manufacture of life-changing therapies, we are here to support them. Our global team delivers an unrivaled combination of innovative technologies, purchasing convenience and pharmaceutical services through our industry-leading brands, including Thermo Scientific, Applied Biosystems, Invitrogen, Fisher Scientific, Unity Lab Services, Patheon and PPD. For more information, please visit www.thermofisher.com.

ⁱ https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/cancer
ⁱⁱ https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scitranslmed.aaw8412