Oncology Drug Discovery Support

Our oncology experts use disease-relevant in vitro models, advanced imaging, transcriptomics and translational biology to generate decision-grade data that gives you greater confidence in candidate selection, mechanism of action and progression towards the clinic.

Why do oncology drug discovery programs fail?

Despite major advances in precision oncology, many promising drug candidates fail during development because preclinical models do not accurately predict clinical performance. Common challenges include:

• Limited physiological relevance of traditional 2D cancer models
• Poor understanding of tumor microenvironment biology
• Difficulty demonstrating mechanism of action
• Incomplete assessment of drug resistance and tumor heterogeneity
• Uncertainty selecting the best candidate for progression
• Lack of translational biomarkers

Through designing studies around your biological questions, not simply running assays, our scientists help you overcome these challenges, so you generate evidence that supports confident development decisions.  

From oncology complexity to confident decisions

Oncology expertise areas

Supporting oncology programs with disease-relevant models and advanced biological technologies that deliver meaningful, predictive insight early in development. Our oncology CRO services combine decades of scientific expertise with advanced in vitro platforms to help you navigate biological complexity, avoid common development pitfalls, and generate the robust data needed to progress your drug to market with confidence.

Why are disease-relevant tumor models important?

Many cancer drugs demonstrate promising activity in conventional monolayer cultures but fail when exposed to the complexity of real tumors.

Our oncology platforms incorporate relevant 3D systems and immune-competent models as well as clinically relevant biology to better predict therapeutic performance before costly in vivo or clinical studies. Download the assay card: Advancing Drug Discovery with 3D Spheroid Cancer Models.

Available models include:

• Cancer cell lines
• 3D tumor spheroids
• Tumor-stroma co-cultures
• Immune-competent models
• Bespoke disease models

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

How do you evaluate mechanism of action?

Understanding why a therapeutic works is just as important as demonstrating efficacy. Our scientists combine multiple technologies to characterize:

• Cell proliferation
• Cell viability
• Apoptosis
• Migration
• Invasion
• Drug resistance
• Pathway activation
• Biomarker expression

This generates mechanistic evidence that supports candidate progression and regulatory discussions.

How do you model the tumor microenvironment?

Cancer biology is driven by interactions between tumor cells, stromal cells and immune cells. We build increasingly physiologically relevant models incorporating:

• Cancer-associated fibroblasts
• Immune cell populations
• Extracellular matrix
• 3D spheroid architecture
• Immune-oncology assay platforms

For therapies targeting immune pathways, our specialist immuno-oncology team provides additional expertise in checkpoint biology, macrophage biology, exhausted T cells and immune suppression models.  

Advanced technologies for oncology drug discovery

How do you generate deeper insights to accelerate oncology drug discovery?

Making confident development decisions requires more than a single assay. Our integrated biology platforms combine advanced technologies with scientific expertise to generate complementary datasets that provide a comprehensive understanding of drug activity, mechanism of action and phenotypic response across both 2D and 3D disease-relevant models. The result is robust, decision-grade data that helps reduce development risk and accelerate your oncology program.

Therapeutic areas we support

Our oncology expertise supports research across:

• Solid tumors
• Haematological malignancies
• Precision oncology
• Targeted therapies
• Antibody therapeutics
• ADCs
• Small molecules
• Peptide therapeutics
• Cell therapies ‍
• Immuno-oncology

Why partner with Concept Life Sciences?

• Disease-relevant oncology models designed around your biology.
• Expertise spanning oncology and immuno-oncology.
• Integrated transcriptomics, imaging and spatial biology.
• Bespoke assay development for novel targets.
• Decision-grade data supported by experienced scientists.
• Integrated chemistry, biology, ADMET and GMP services under one organization.

Oncology Drug Discovery FAQs

Q: What oncology models do you use?

A: We support cancer drug discovery using established cancer cell lines, advanced 3D tumor spheroids, stromal co-cultures and bespoke disease-relevant models selected to match your therapeutic hypothesis.

Q: Can you evaluate immunotherapies?

A: Yes. We combine oncology expertise with dedicated immuno-oncology capabilities including tumor-immune interaction models, T cell assays, macrophage biology and immune checkpoint studies.

Q: Can you develop bespoke oncology assays?

A: Yes. Our scientists routinely design custom assays for novel targets, emerging therapeutic modalities and complex biological mechanisms.

Q: What technologies do you use?

A; Our oncology platform includes live-cell analysis, high-content imaging, transcriptomics, spatial biology, functional assays and mechanistic profiling.

Q: How do you improve translational relevance?

A: We use disease-relevant models, mechanism-led study design, advanced biological technologies and clinically relevant biomarkers to generate evidence that better predicts therapeutic success.