Profiling of Tumor Tissue Slices is Awarded Prize

Bionas GmbH, a specialist for in vitro profiling the metabolic activity of cells, announced that Prof. Pedro Mestres of the Saarland University (Homburg/Saar, Germany) has been awarded the second prize in the business plan contest 1,2,3 GO for a novel drug sensitivity screening tool based on the Bionas technology.

Tumors react in different ways against anti-cancer drugs. It is therefore important to determine tumor drug sensitivity in order to establish a tumor and patient-specific therapy in the clinic.

Prof. Mestres, who plans to found a company for drug screening services in early 2008, has developed a tissue slicing technology producing microtumors that retain near-original tissue structure and cell activity. These microtumors are then analyzed with the Bionas^® 2500 analyzing system for their metabolic activity upon drug treatment.

“With the Bionas 2500 instrument we can analyze the metabolic pattern of the tissue slices in a highly precise way, “says Prof. Pedro Mestres. “This enables us to profile tissue specimens from tumor patients for optimal drug responsiveness”.

The Bionas^® 2500 analyzing system gives a complete overview of the physiological state of cells and tissues by analyzing metabolic and morphological parameters over a long period.