ECM

Shift to Xeno-Free, Efficient, and Predictable 3D Cell Culture

 

Following the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) April 2025 initiative to phase out animal testing requirements for monoclonal antibodies and other drugs, regulators, academia, and industry experts worldwide have emphasised the adoption of New Approach Methodologies (NAMs). These cutting-edge alternatives, including organoids, microphysiological systems, and AI-driven models, offer more ethical, human-relevant, and scalable systems for drug development.

At Tebubio, we support this transition with VitroGel®, a synthetic, xeno-free hydrogel system designed to replace animal-derived ECMs such as Matrigel.

Why VitroGel®?

VitroGel® provides a controlled, biomimetic microenvironment without animal or human components. Its features include:

  • Tunable mechanical strength to match specific tissue requirements

  • Adjustable biological ligands for targeted cell signalling

  • Defined degradability for easy tissue or organoid harvesting

  • Consistency and reproducibility for predictable experimental outcomes

By contrast, traditional animal-derived ECMs are chemically undefined, introducing variability, obscuring mechanistic insights, and contributing to high drug failure rates in preclinical studies.

Figure 1: Comparative analysis table of VitroGel® vs animal-based ECMs.

Accelerate Your Research

Figure 2: Performance comparative analysis of VitroGel® vs animal-based Matrigel.

Figure 3: Complexity comparative analysis of VitroGel® vs animal-based Matrigel.

VitroGel® is not just compliant with NAMs initiatives; it also optimises your workflow, enabling faster, cleaner, and more reproducible experiments.

  • Organoid recovery in 10 minutes: VitroGel® Organoid Recovery Solution allows efficient extraction of organoids from both VitroGel® and animal-based ECMs without enzymatic digestion.

  • High-quality downstream analysis: Extract DNA, RNA, and protein directly from VitroGel® with high yield and purity, reducing experimental variability.

Applications in Advanced Biomedicine

VitroGel® hydrogels are ideal for:

  • Drug discovery and screening

  • Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine

  • 3D organoid cultures

  • Cell therapy and translational research

Figure 4: VitroGel® applications towards advanced biomedicine: showcasing workflows from organoid culture to cell therapy and high-throughput drug screening.

Need Guidance? Speak with Our Specialists

Reach out to discuss which VitroGel® formulation best suits your experiments and optimise your 3D cell culture workflow.

Hesitant to Transition from Animal-Based ECM?

Test cell and organoid harvesting with VitroGel® today from your animal-based ECM!

VitroGel® Organoid Recovery Solution is a non-enzymatic, rapid cell harvesting system designed for:

  • Efficient recovery of organoids or cells from VitroGel® hydrogels or traditional animal-based ECMs

  • Harvesting intact organoids from Matrigel or other matrices in just 10 minutes

  • Enabling direct extraction of DNA, RNA, or protein with high yield, high purity, and minimal background noise, no additional cell/organoid harvesting required

With VitroGel®, your workflow becomes faster, simpler, and more reproducible, while fully supporting the move toward xeno-free, NAMs-compliant methods.

Let’s Build Your Xeno-Free 3D Strategy Together

Contact our experts for tailored guidance on selecting the most suitable VitroGel® solutions for your research and successfully transitioning away from animal-based ECMs.