Imaging Biometrics Limited
(“IBAI” or the “Company”)
KIRKSTALL AWARDED BBSRC/NC3Rs GRANT FOR GLIOBLASTOMA ‘TUMOUR ON A CHIP’ RESEARCH
Imaging Biometrics Limited, the Main Market listed healthcare technology group, is pleased to announce that its subsidiary Kirkstall Limited (“Kirkstall”) has been selected as an industry partner in a collaborative research programme focused on developing a living glioblastoma ‘tumour on a chip’ model, in partnership with Nottingham Trent University (“NTU”).
Background
Kirkstall is a pioneer in organ-on-a-chip technology, developing microfluidic platforms that replicate the behaviour of living human tissue outside the body. Its Quasi Vivo® system enables cells and tissues to be maintained under physiologically relevant flow conditions, making it an established tool in academic and pharmaceutical research settings globally.
The Research Programme
The programme is led by Professor Gareth Cave of NTU’s School of Science and Technology and aims to create a microfluidic ‘tumour on a chip’ system capable of mimicking the key features of the human brain environment in which glioblastoma develops – the most aggressive form of brain cancer in adults. Despite current standard of care comprising surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, most patients survive just ten to fifteen months following diagnosis, with fewer than 6% of patients surviving beyond five years.
A central challenge in glioblastoma drug development is the blood-brain barrier – the brain’s natural protective shield – which makes it difficult for therapeutic compounds to reach tumour cells. Existing preclinical models, including animal-based systems, often fail to accurately replicate this barrier, meaning many potential drugs show promise in early testing but do not work in patients.
The Kirkstall platform will be used to grow human-derived cells inside a microfluidic chip to form a blood-brain barrier, before introducing glioblastoma cells to model how tumours develop and how candidate drug compounds traverse the barrier and reach the cancer. Fluid will flow through the device in a manner analogous to blood movement through vessels, enabling the cells to behave as they would in the human body. Advanced imaging techniques – including microscopy, ultrasound and MRI – will be employed to monitor tumour development and drug penetration.
By creating a more accurate, human-relevant platform for testing chemotherapies, the programme aims to improve the likelihood of promising drugs reaching patients, and could also reduce the need for large numbers of animals in early-stage glioblastoma drug studies.
Further information is available at: https://nc3rs.org.uk/our-portfolio/development-vascularised-glioblastoma-tumour-chip-predictive-non-invasive
Funding
The study has been awarded funding under a new joint initiative between the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (“BBSRC”) and the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (“NC3Rs”), through their Business Interaction Voucher scheme. Kirkstall is a co-funder of the programme alongside these research councils.
Professor Gareth Cave, lead researcher at NTU, has described the project as having the potential to fundamentally change how glioblastoma treatments are developed, representing an important step toward more predictive, ethical and impactful cancer research.
Strategic Significance
Trevor Brown, Chief Executive Officer of Imaging Biometrics, said:
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“This grant award is an early validation of our strategy in acquiring Kirkstall. We now have two complementary platforms addressing the same disease – Kirkstall’s organ-on-a-chip technology modelling the tumour microenvironment, and Imaging Biometrics’ MRI analysis software monitoring how tumours behave and respond to treatment. The opportunity to bring those capabilities together within a single group, working on glioblastoma from bench to bedside, is exactly the kind of convergence we envisaged when we completed the acquisition in October. We look forward to updating shareholders as this programme progresses.” Trevor Brown, Chief Executive Officer, Imaging Biometrics Limited |
The Directors believe this programme demonstrates the continued scientific relevance and commercial potential of the Kirkstall platform in high-value oncology and central nervous system drug development – sectors characterised by acute unmet clinical need and significant pharmaceutical research expenditure.
The programme further strengthens Kirkstall’s relationship with the NC3Rs and with leading academic and regulatory bodies that are increasingly directing pharmaceutical sponsors toward human-relevant, animal-free testing methodologies. The Directors regard this recognition as an important validation of Kirkstall’s technology by peer-reviewed scientific institutions.
The Company will provide further updates on the progress of this research programme in due course.
The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for the contents of this announcement.
For further information, please contact:
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Imaging Biometrics Limited Trevor Brown/Brett Skelly/Michael Schmainda Tel: 020 7469 0930 |
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AlbR Capital Limited (Corporate Broker) Lucy Williams / Duncan Vasey Tel: 020 7220 9797 |
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (“MAR”). Upon the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.
Notes to Editors
About Imaging Biometrics Limited
Imaging Biometrics Limited is an LSE-listed healthcare technology group focused on quantitative neuroimaging software and organ-on-a-chip technology. Its principal subsidiary, Imaging Biometrics LLC, is a world leader in advanced MRI analysis software used in the assessment of brain tumours, with products distributed globally including through a commercial agreement with GE HealthCare. Kirkstall Limited, acquired by IBAI in October 2025, develops the Quasi Vivo® organ-on-a-chip platform for use in pharmaceutical research, toxicology testing and disease modelling.
About Kirkstall Limited
Kirkstall Limited is a biotechnology company specialising in microfluidic organ-on-a-chip systems. Its Quasi Vivo® platform enables cells to be maintained under physiological flow conditions that closely mimic the human body, providing pharmaceutical and academic researchers with more predictive and human-relevant in vitro models. Kirkstall has an established international distributor network spanning the United States, China and South Korea.
About Nottingham Trent University
NTU owns two Queen’s Anniversary Prizes for outstanding achievements in research (2015, 2021). The Research Excellence Framework (2021) classed 83% of NTU’s research activity as either world-leading or internationally excellent. Professor Gareth Cave and his team in the School of Science and Technology work at the interface of pharmaceutical science and biomedical engineering.
About the NC3Rs/BBSRC Business Interaction Voucher Scheme
The Business Interaction Voucher scheme is a joint funding initiative from the NC3Rs and BBSRC designed to support collaboration between academic researchers in the NC3Rs network and commercial partners. The scheme aims to accelerate the development and adoption of human-relevant, animal-free research technologies.