Immuno-Oncology Drug Discovery Support

Human-relevant models for cancer immunotherapy development

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Why is developing effective cancer immunotherapies more challenging than ever?

Developing effective cancer immunotherapies is more challenging than ever because success depends on understanding the complex interactions between tumors and the immune system. Many promising candidates demonstrate efficacy in simplified preclinical models but fail to translate clinically because these models do not capture the complexity of the human tumor microenvironment.

Human-relevant models that reveal how immune cells, stromal cells, and cancer cells interact, are essential for generating meaningful functional data, validating mechanisms of action, selecting the right targets, and reducing the risk of failure later in development.

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Why do immuno-oncology drug discovery programs fail?

Despite the success of immune checkpoint inhibitors, many immuno-oncology programs still fail to translate into clinical benefit.

Common challenges include:

Poor representation of the tumor microenvironment.
Difficulty modeling immune suppression.
Limited understanding of immune cell interactions.
Lack of clinically relevant human models.
Weak mechanistic evidence for progression decisions.
Difficulty selecting the best lead candidate.

Our immuno-oncology experts combine advanced human-relevant immune cell models with deep translational biology expertise to generate robust, decision-ready data that helps you understand mechanism of action, validate therapeutic hypotheses, reduce development risk, and confidently advance candidates toward the clinic.

From complex tumor biology to confident decisions

Your challenge	The solution
Standard preclinical models fail to predict clinical responses or represent the complexity of the tumor microenvironment.	Generate more translational data and improve confidence in therapeutic activity before in vivo studies.
Complex tumor–immune interactions and immune suppression make it difficult to understand therapeutic response.	Reveal key mechanisms of action and identify barriers to efficacy, including T-cell exhaustion, TAMs, Tregs, and MDSCs.
Limited understanding of mechanism of action or target engagement.	Validate therapeutic hypotheses with robust functional and mechanistic data.
Resistance mechanisms reduce therapeutic efficacy.	Identify opportunities to overcome immune suppression and restore anti-tumor immunity.
Multiple immune pathways make study design and data interpretation challenging.	Generate stronger evidence with mechanism-led experimental design tailored to your therapeutic strategy.
Difficult to prioritize candidates and make confident go/no-go decisions.	Reduce development risk, lower attrition, and accelerate progression of the most promising candidates.
Managing multiple CROs slows progress and fragments data.	Streamline development through integrated biology, chemistry, ADME, DMPK, bioanalysis, and toxicology expertise.

Immuno-oncology expertise to advance your cancer immunotherapy program

Our immuno-oncology experts combine advanced human immune cell models with deep translational biology expertise to help you overcome the challenges of cancer immunotherapy development.

Using human-relevant in vitro models that accurately recreate the tumor microenvironment, we generate robust, decision-ready data that helps you understand mechanism of action, validate therapeutic hypotheses, identify biomarkers, and confidently progress candidates toward the clinic.

Our comprehensive suite of functional immuno-oncology assays supports the discovery and development of next-generation cancer immunotherapies by helping you:

Improve translational relevance using primary human immune cells, co-culture systems, and advanced 3D tumor models.
Understand mechanism of action through functional immune profiling and pathway analysis.
Reveal immune suppression and resistance mechanisms, including T-cell exhaustion and tumor-associated macrophage biology.
Demonstrate anti-tumor activity with biologically meaningful functional endpoints.
Generate biomarker and mechanistic data to support clinical translation and patient stratification.
Make confident go/no-go decisions earlier in development, reducing program risk and accelerating progression to the clinic.

Immuno-oncology image analysis

A suite of automated tools supports in-depth profiling of the tumor microenvironment:

3D spheroid model: A549 lung carcinoma cells expressing nuclear red fluorescent protein (RFP) were co-cultured with fibroblasts to generate 3D spheroids, followed by the addition of PBMCs. Anti-CD3-mediated activation of PBMCs inhibited spheroid growth, an effect that was further potentiated by IL-12 treatment. Representative images were captured using the Incucyte live-cell imaging platform.

Download the poster: Priming of spheroids with IFN-γ increases efficacy of T cell mediated killing with PD-1 blockade

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Human-relevant immuno-oncology platforms

Better models. Better decisions.

Our scientists combine primary human immune cells, advanced co-culture systems, and physiologically relevant tumor models to generate robust data that better predicts clinical outcomes.

Primary human immune cell models

Generate clinically relevant data using primary human immune cell models that better represent patient immune responses than conventional immortalized cell lines.

Human PBMCs
Primary T cells
Human macrophages
NK cells
Regulatory T cells (Tregs)
Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs)

These models improve translational relevance and increase confidence in candidate selection before in vivo studies.

Tumor–immune co-culture systems

Evaluate therapeutic activity in biologically relevant co-culture systems that recreate key interactions within the tumor microenvironment.

Tumor cells
T cells
Tumor-associated macrophages
Fibroblasts
Stromal components
Multiple immune populations

These co-culture models reveal mechanisms that cannot be observed in single-cell assays, providing deeper insight into therapeutic response.

Advanced 3D tumor microenvironment models

Move beyond traditional 2D assays with complex 3D tumor models designed to recreate key aspects of human tumor biology. Our 3D platforms incorporate:

Cancer cells
Immune cells
Fibroblasts
Stromal architecture
Disease-relevant endpoints

These physiologically relevant models improve prediction of therapeutic activity, immune infiltration, and treatment response.

Tumor-associated macrophage (TAM) assays

Determine whether your therapy can reprogram immunosuppressive macrophages and restore anti-tumor immunity. Our TAM assays evaluate:

Macrophage differentiation
M1/M2 polarization
Macrophage suppression
Macrophage reprogramming
Cytokine profiling
Tumor–immune co-culture responses

Understand macrophage biology and evaluate strategies to overcome immune suppression.

Exhausted T-cell models

Assess whether your therapy can restore T-cell function and overcome immune dysfunction. Our clinically relevant exhausted T-cell models help you investigate:

Chronic activation
Immune checkpoint biology
Cytokine production
T-cell proliferation
Functional recovery

These assays support development of next-generation immunotherapies targeting immune dysfunction.

T-cell activation assays

Measure functional immune activation rather than relying solely on surface marker expression.

Antigen-specific activation
Cytokine release
Cell proliferation
Cytotoxic activity
Immune function

Demonstrate meaningful immune activation and therapeutic response.

NK cell functional assays

Evaluate natural killer (NK) cell-mediated tumor killing using functional immune assays.

NK cell activation
Cytotoxicity
Tumor cell killing
Functional immune responses

Generate robust evidence of innate immune activity against cancer cells.

Regulatory T-cell (Treg) assays

Investigate how therapies influence regulatory immune populations within the tumor microenvironment.

Treg differentiation
Suppression assays
Cytokine production
Functional immune regulation

Understand mechanisms of immune suppression and evaluate strategies to restore anti-tumor immunity.

MDSC assays

Characterize myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), one of the key barriers to successful anti-tumor immunity.

MDSC differentiation
Immune suppression
Functional activity
Mechanism of action

Understand myeloid-mediated immune suppression and support the development of more effective immunotherapies.

Mechanism of action and biomarker profiling

Go beyond efficacy measurements to understand why your therapy works using comprehensive translational biology capabilities.

Flow cytometry
Multiplex cytokine analysis
High-content imaging
Gene expression profiling
Transcriptomics
Phenotypic characterization
Target engagement
Immune pathway analysis
Biomarker identification

Generate decision-ready datasets that support mechanism-of-action studies, biomarker discovery, and confident candidate progression.

Therapeutic modalities we support

Our immuno-oncology platforms support development of:

Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs)
Small molecules
Cell and Gene therapies
Targeted protein degraders (PROTACs and molecular glues)

Every study is designed around the biology of your target and therapeutic modality. This integrated approach creates cohesive, decision-ready data packages that help move promising therapies toward clinical development more efficiently.

A clear path from question to data

Why partner with Concept Life Sciences for immuno-oncology research?

Choosing the right CRO means finding a partner that understands the complexity of cancer immunotherapy and can generate data that supports confident development decisions.

At Concept Life Sciences, we combine more than a decade of immuno-oncology expertise with human-relevant biology, integrated drug discovery capabilities, and collaborative scientific support to help you reduce risk and accelerate your program.

Human-relevant models that improve translation - Generate clinically meaningful data using advanced primary human immune cell, tumor–immune co-culture, and 3D tumor microenvironment models that better reflect human disease biology.

Proven immuno-oncology expertise - With more than a decade of experience supporting over 100 immuno-oncology drug discovery programs, our scientists understand the biological challenges that determine therapeutic success.

Pioneering assay development - As the first CRO to develop comprehensive tumor-associated macrophage (TAM) and exhausted T-cell assay platforms, we provide specialist expertise in immune suppression, resistance mechanisms, and tumor microenvironment biology.

Integrated drug discovery support - Access biology, chemistry, ADME, DMPK, bioanalysis, and toxicology expertise through a single scientific partner, reducing complexity and accelerating decision-making throughout your program.

Tailored scientific partnerships - Every study is designed around your therapeutic modality, target biology, and development objectives, with bespoke assay development and direct access to experienced PhD scientists throughout your project.

Decision-ready data - Our focus is on generating robust, mechanistic, and translational data that helps you validate therapeutic hypotheses, prioritize candidates, reduce development risk, and confidently progress toward the clinic.

Fast response. Confidential discussions. Direct access to scientific experts.

Whether you are validating a checkpoint target, profiling an immunomodulator, or building a combination strategy, we can help you generate functional evidence that reduces uncertainty and supports confident decision-making.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What immuno-oncology models and assays do you offer?

A: We offer a comprehensive portfolio of human-relevant immuno-oncology models and functional assays to support cancer immunotherapy discovery. Our capabilities include primary human immune cell assays, tumor–immune co-culture systems, 3D tumor microenvironment models, tumor-associated macrophage (TAM) assays, exhausted T-cell models, T-cell and NK-cell activation assays, regulatory T-cell (Treg) and myeloid-derived suppressor cell (MDSC) assays, tumor cell killing assays, cytokine profiling, biomarker analysis, and bespoke assay development tailored to your therapeutic program.

Q: How do you model the tumor microenvironment and improve translational relevance?

A: Our scientists use primary human immune cells, advanced tumor–immune co-culture systems, and physiologically relevant 3D tumor microenvironment models to better replicate human disease biology than conventional monoculture assays. By combining functional immune endpoints with mechanistic validation and biomarker analysis, we generate data that improves confidence in clinical translation and candidate selection.

Q: Can you support checkpoint inhibitors, novel immunotherapies, and combination strategies?

A: Yes. We support the development of checkpoint inhibitors, next-generation immunotherapies, macrophage-targeting therapies, cytokine modulators, bispecific antibodies, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), cell therapies, gene therapies, and other novel immuno-oncology approaches. We also design combination studies to evaluate therapeutic synergy, sequencing strategies, and mechanisms of interaction.

Q: How do you measure immune activity and therapeutic response?

A: We measure functional immune responses using biologically relevant endpoints, including immune cell activation, cytokine release, tumor cell killing, cytotoxicity, proliferation, target engagement, and pathway activation. These assays provide mechanistic insight beyond static biomarker measurements, helping demonstrate whether a therapy is producing a meaningful anti-tumor immune response.

Q: Can you develop bespoke immuno-oncology assays?

A: Yes. Every drug discovery program is different, so we frequently develop customized assays and study designs tailored to your target biology, therapeutic modality, mechanism of action, and development objectives. Our scientists work collaboratively with you to design studies that answer your most important scientific questions.

Q: Do you use primary human immune cells?

A: Yes. Our immuno-oncology platforms incorporate primary human PBMCs, T cells, macrophages, NK cells, regulatory T cells (Tregs), and other immune cell populations to generate data that is more representative of human biology and improves confidence in translational outcomes.

Q: Can you provide integrated drug discovery support beyond immuno-oncology?

A: Yes. In addition to immuno-oncology biology, we offer integrated medicinal chemistry, ADME, DMPK, bioanalysis, toxicology, and biomarker expertise. By combining these capabilities within a single partner, we help streamline drug discovery, reduce project complexity, and accelerate progression from early discovery toward clinical development.

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