Intero Biosystems sells intestinal tissue grown from human cells for drug testing

Intero Biosystems sells intestinal tissue grown from human cells for drug testing

GastroScreen consists of small pieces of intestinal tissue grown in the laboratory. Researchers apply compounds to the tissue and check for damage to the intestinal barrier, inflammation, and changes in tissue contractions.

On October 14, TechCrunch reported on GastroScreen, a product from Denver startup Intero Biosystems. Before human trials, compounds are usually tested in cell cultures and animals. Intero offers an additional model: lab-grown human intestinal tissue that researchers expose to a specific compound to observe its response.

These small tissue structures are called organoids. To make GastroScreen, adult human cells are reprogrammed to an early developmental state from which they can develop into different tissues. Intero says its model combines the intestine’s inner cell layer, smooth muscle, supporting tissue, blood vessels, and nerve cells. This allows researchers to study intestinal barrier damage, inflammation, and tissue contractions in a single experiment.

The company ships batches of more than one hundred live or frozen organoids to laboratories. Customers can run experiments themselves or commission Intero to design and conduct them.

Intestinal organoids have already helped answer specific questions: in rare forms of cystic fibrosis, they have allowed researchers to assess how a drug acts on a particular variant of CFTR, the protein associated with the disease.

In April 2025, FDA announced that it would encourage the inclusion of data from methods that do not use animals, including organoids, in applications to begin human trials. Draft FDA guidance issued in March 2026 outlines general principles for validating these methods.

GastroScreen is currently in the second of three validation stages. The company first confirmed that the organoids contained the key tissue types. It is now exposing the model to known drugs and substances that damage the intestine, then comparing the responses with those expected. The third stage compares the model’s responses with existing pharmaceutical company data from animal studies and clinical trials; the company has already begun several such comparisons.