Partnering with XenoSTART for Preclinical Studies: What Engagement Model is Right for You?

Preclinical studies serve as the bridge between discovery and the clinic. At XenoSTART, our unique collection of over 2,800 patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models enables you to design the right study, generate the most clinically relevant data, and streamline your path to a go/no-go decision.

We’ve established our PDX models through a robust “clinic-to-bench” pipeline, ensuring that cancer samples originate from contemporary patient populations, which reflects the current standard of care and therapeutic landscape. 

In this blog, we outline how various global pharmaceutical and biotech customers work with us. From full-service in vivo studies to collaborative development of novel PDX models, we offer flexible models of engagement, designed to align with your translational research goals.

In Vivo Preclinical Studies

The most common engagement model our clients choose is a fully-outsourced, project-based collaboration, where we help customers identify the most clinically relevant models that fit the needs of their program. Our XenoSource collection includes models that span the full spectrum of the patient journey, from treatment-naïve to relapsed or treatment-resistant populations. Collectively, our models capture the heterogeneity of modern patients’ responses and the influence of past therapies, making them highly reflective of the patient population you’ll be testing in the clinic.

Once projects are initiated, we work closely with your team to finalize the selection of models aligned with your drug target and therapeutic strategy. From there, we refine the study design and establish clear timelines to move your preclinical studies forward.

This approach is ideal for…

This engagement model leverages the breadth of XenoSTART’s PDX models and our streamlined XenoScreen platform (see below), giving clients rapid access to clinically relevant data. This engagement model is ideal for small or virtual pharma/biotech companies without in vivo capabilities, as well as for medium to large-sized companies that lack bandwidth to support additional internal studies.

Model Licensing

We can also directly license any of the fully characterized PDX models found in XenoSource to you, enabling you to conduct studies in your facilities in the US, Europe, and other countries. Clients can bring models in-house, integrating them into their own experimental workflows while maintaining autonomy and benefiting from the extensive validation and clinical annotation that define our catalog.

This approach is ideal for…

This approach is perfect for companies with the internal capabilities and capacity to perform in vivo preclinical development. Our licensing agreements also permit the use of our models for generating in vitro and ex vivo models, utilizing our PDX models as a starting point. These include organoid, cell line, and organ-on-chip platforms. Furthermore, the characterization data is also available to license and can be used internally for model selection and target validation.

We support regular check-in meetings to discuss new models and licensing opportunities that may be useful to you. We can also provide hands-on support for clients transitioning models into their own systems. From troubleshooting growth kinetics to optimizing implantation protocols, our team works closely with your scientific team to ensure success.

Custom Model Development

XenoSTART’s specialty is the development of challenging, one-of-a-kind models that reflect today’s complex treatment landscape. Many of our models are established from tumor samples of patients from our global oncology network and early phase clinical trial sites who have already been treated with approved standards of care and novel agents, including antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and targeted therapies. By sourcing from early-phase clinical studies and pairing them with comprehensive medical histories, prior treatment data, and molecular characterization, we create PDX models that enable more predictive preclinical evaluation of next-generation therapies.

This approach is ideal for…

For clients developing therapies at our clinical sites, XenoSTART offers a custom PDX model generation service using samples from these patients with exclusive early access to the sponsor company This proprietary research tool strengthens competitive positioning and accelerates therapeutic development of the test agent.

XenoScreens

Lastly, we offer ready-to-run in vivo screens, called XenoScreens, curated panels of our PDX models to support rapid, data-driven preclinical decisions. Our mouse clinical trial (MCT) format enables concurrent testing of multiple treatment arms, including monotherapy or combination regimens. XenoScreens are typically conducted over four weeks, with routine tumor and body weight measurements and optional extensions. Customers receive robust datasets, complete with waterfall plots, delivered in a format that supports both exploratory and IND-enabling studies.

This approach is ideal for…

XenoScreens are best suited for companies focused on generating rapid preclinical data for proof of concept or to identify relevant models for translational studies. These provide a balance of speed, scientific rigor, and clinical relevance, making it ideal for both small and large pharma/biotech companies looking for models to generate IND-enabling data or to identify patient subpopulations to target in early phase trials.

For a closer look at our active mouse clinical trials and how they support rapid therapeutic evaluation, visit our XenoScreens page.

Choose The Approach that’s Right for You

Choosing the right engagement model with XenoSTART depends on your team’s resources, development stage, and strategic goals. Whether you need an outsourced in vivo study, access to licensed models, or a rapid XenoScreen to guide key decisions, our flexible partnership options are designed to meet your needs.