Fibrosis models from ex vivo systems to animal models

Intro

Fibrosis research relies on models that can accurately reflect complex tissue architecture and human disease biology. In this session, we explore advances across ex vivo systems and animal models, highlighting how emerging platforms such as precision-cut tissue slices and whole-organ 3D imaging are improving translational relevance. Together, these approaches provide deeper insight into disease mechanisms and enable more predictive evaluation of anti-fibrotic therapies.

Get the full picture with auantitative 3D whole-organ imaging

Henrik H Hansen, Scientific Director, Gubra A/S

Abstract: Gubra is a disease-agnostic company specializing in peptide-based drug discovery and world-class preclinical contract research services.
Gubra is an industry leader in preclinical whole-organ imaging and AI-assisted histology. By leveraging tissue clearing and three-dimensional light sheet fluorescence microscopy (3D LSFM), we have established a high-throughput whole-organ imaging platform that enables automated, absolute quantification of clinically relevant histological endpoints at cellular resolution across all rodent organs and tissue samples from large animal models and humans. 3D LSFM imaging supports multiplex immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization analyses, allowing comprehensive mapping of e.g. histopathological markers, tissue remodeling and drug distribution within intact organs. The platform has demonstrated broad utility across diverse preclinical disease models, including muscle atrophy, chronic kidney disease, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and CNS disorders.
This presentation introduces a pioneering whole-organ 3D imaging workflow for quantitative fibrosis assessment and highlights case studies. The platform enables micrometre-resolution visualization and volumetric quantification of collagen deposition across intact organs, addressing the sampling bias and limited spatial context inherent to conventional 2D histology. An AI-driven image analysis pipeline was developed to enable automated classification and quantification of fibrosis architecture and overall disease burden while preserving anatomical context.
Together, this automated 3D fibrosis analysis framework provides spatially resolved, organ-wide analysis suitable for high-throughput evaluation of anti-fibrotic drug efficacy.

Human Slice Cultures: Forging a New Era for Translational Research in Fibrosis

TBD, AnaBios

Abstract: Fibrosis remains one of the most challenging areas in drug development, with high attrition rates driven by the limited human relevance of standard preclinical models. AnaBios has developed proprietary ex-vivo human slice systems across multiple organs that directly address this gap. In this session, we will present data demonstrating how these models recapitulate key features of human fibrotic disease and enable translational efficacy assessment — providing actionable human biology earlier in the drug discovery process.

Human Precision-Cut Tissue Slices as a Preclinical Platform for the Development & Testing of Novel Therapeutics

TBD, FibroFind

Abstract: Precision Cut Tissue Slices (PCTS) from human organs provide a physiologically and structurally representative ex-vivo model that retains the native tissue architecture. Testing potential therapeutic targets and interrogating mechanisms underpinning disease pathophysiology in human PCTS allows us to assess their effectiveness and relevance to the clinical situation, overcoming many of the limitations of currently widely employed in-vivo rodent models and in-vitro 2D cell culture methodologies. FibroFind specialises in the application of advanced technologies for interrogating fibrosis biology.  Leveraging our expertise, we have developed proprietary bioreactor-cultured PCTS that demonstrate exceptional performance in biomarker identification, toxicology, target discovery and drug efficacy evaluation.  By harnessing robotics, AI-guided data analysis and a highly skilled team, FibroFind ensures unparalleled quality in all studies. Our portfolio includes PCTS from healthy and diseased lungs (IPF, ILD, COPD), kidneys and livers in 12, 24 and 96 well formats, allowing us to customise studies to meet your specific needs and deliver results that drive your research forward.