Research from Cardiff University’s School of Biosciences has pioneered a process of combining cells taken from human “waste tissue” donated by people when they die.
Cell biologist Dr Kelly BéruBé – who led the project – said the potential for the applicability of the Metabo-Lung could be worth “billions of pounds”.
The development work now under way at Cardiff University could offer a genuine alternative to animal testing for pharmaceutical companies developing new drugs for pulmonary disorders such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cystic fibrosis.
More people die in the UK from respiratory disease than from coronary heart disease or non-respiratory cancer – and researchers claim that there have been few treatments produced for respiratory conditions in the past 25 years. And Dr BéruBé said testing in animals had proven to have a “high error rate” in indicating the efficacy of drugs treating lung conditions.