Objective

Two dimensional (2D) cell culture has been widely used in research laboratories in both academia and industry. However, over the past decade it has become increasingly clear that more physiologically-relevant cell culture methods are often necessary, both in basic research and drug discovery, to better recapitulate tissue/tumour conditions. Therefore a wide range of 3D techniques were developed and used in basic research and some of those have also been applied in industrial processes. Tumour spheroid, typically polyclonal aggregate of cells grown in an ultra low attachment plate, is one of the simplest 3D culture models. We generated best practive guidlines for development of spheroid-based assays and used the spheroid assay in a mechanism of action and biomarker discovery studies and to help brigding the gap between 2D and in vivo. Overall the study demonstrates and example of 3D culture providing a clear advantage over 2D culture and sheds light on the future perspectives and directions of development and application of 3D culture techniques in drug discovery.