UK researchers launch £20m Cambridge hub to create organoid library for humane drug testing

Miniature human organs and other tissues will be grown from NHS patients’ cells, aiming to improve medicine testing and cut the reliance on animal models in drug development.

The tissue samples, known as organoids, will enable scientists to study how diseases differ among individuals, helping pinpoint the most effective treatments based on each patient’s specific pathology.

This initiative marks a decisive shift from traditional animal models toward human‑based assays that researchers say will be more accurate and reliable.

“It’s going to have a major impact on the numbers of animals used and the way we develop new drugs in the future,” said Matthias Zilbauer, a clinical professor of paediatric gastroenterology at the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute. “We’re not saying there won’t be any animal use in the near or foreseeable future, because there are still certain issues that cannot be tested in these new models, but the reduction is very real.”

Researchers have been producing tiny clumps of human organs, called organoids, for over a decade. Laboratory tests have shown that specimens smaller than a millimetre can reproduce key characteristics of full‑scale organs and tissues, including disease processes and drug responses.

Having organoid models derived from diseased human tissue allows scientists to evaluate whether novel drug candidates can reverse pathological changes across patient groups and to quickly eliminate ineffective compounds early in development.

Historically, more than 90 % of compounds that pass animal safety tests fail in human clinical trials, underscoring the limited predictive value of animal models. Regulatory bodies in the US and Europe now encourage alternative methodologies when they are available.

“A lot of human diseases either do not occur in animals or occur in a different way because they’re not human,” said Zilbauer. “We want tests and models that can tell us which treatments work, and in what patients, and a mouse cannot tell us that.”

The new work will be coordinated from a Cambridge research hub, funded by a £20 million grant from the Medical Research Council. The centre will collaborate with a broader scientific community to build a library of standardised, validated organoids, which will be made accessible to academic institutions and pharmaceutical companies to accelerate the delivery of new therapies.

The programme aligns with the UK government’s strategy, unveiled by Keir Starmer’s administration, to fast‑track the reduction of animals used in research. The plan promotes “new approach methodologies” (NAMs), such as organoids, organ‑on‑a‑chip systems and artificial‑intelligence‑driven models, to process data and simulate biological processes.

In 2024, Britain recorded 2.54 million animal‑testing procedures, a 3.8 % decrease from the previous year. Over 90 % of these procedures involved mice, rats, fish and birds, while about 1 % used protected species such as cats, dogs, horses and monkeys.

The Cambridge team will initially focus on organoid models of inflammatory bowel diseases, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. Complementary projects will target tumour organoids to refine cancer therapies and brain organoids to explore neurological conditions.

An additional £2 million has been awarded by Innovate UK to nine projects designed to cut the use of dogs and monkeys in safety testing. One such venture, VivoSphere, cultivates heart cells within gel‑based micro‑spheres for cardiac safety assessments, a process that traditionally requires 50–100 animals such as guinea pigs, rabbits and dogs. Yuan Tian, VivoSphere’s chief technology officer, explained that the approach aims to detect toxicity earlier, preventing harmful compounds from reaching animal testing stages. “If something is going to fail, there’s a lower risk for the animals and also for the patients,” he said.

Dr Juliet Dukes, from the charity Replacing Animals in Research, highlighted the promise of organoids and micro‑physiological systems. “Unlike animal models, they have real potential to deliver truly personalised medicine for individual patients. It is all very exciting,” she added.

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