Historically, alveolar safety has relied on epithelial cell models, which, though convenient, offer a narrow scope—primarily focusing on barrier function or cytotoxicity. Such limited endpoints may overlook potential long-term adverse effects on lung health, especially concerning inflammation from chronic product administration. The lung’s first responders, alveolar macrophages, play a pivotal role in homeostasis and regulating inflammation. Inflammation is not only a marker of acute reactions but also indicative of long-term health implications in the respiratory tract. Therefore, to ensure the comprehensive safety of inhaled products, it’s imperative to employ immune-competent models that capture the nuanced responses of alveolar macrophages. Only through understanding these responses can we truly gauge the safety and potential inflammatory impact of inhaled substances.

Our services, products and experts enable you to understand, in detail how alveolar macrophages respond to inhaled chemicals/particulates and support classification of the response as being adaptive or adverse.

Our unique in vitro models and multi-endpoint assessments deliver results spanning morphology, function and biochemistry to provide companies with clarity on the toxicological and mechanistic impact of their products. We provide a a cost-effective, multi-endpoint alternative which is more human-relevant and reduces animal testing, exploring various interpretations of a read-out.

We carry out a wide variety of in vitro services in-house, with a specialisation in alveolar cell painting assays. Our morph_ONE™ assay combines detailed cell morphology with cell health and biochemical readouts to help classify the mechanism of ‘foamy’, highly vacuolated macrophages to support safety assessment. Our two novel products – ImmuPHAGE™ and ImmuLUNG™ – provide in-depth analysis of macrophage responses in the lungs and epithelial tissue of the alveoli.