Bald but beautiful

HUNTINGDON, U.K.—Huntingdon Life Sciences and Harlan Laboratories have announced the launch of the SHrN, which they say is the world’s first hairless NOD.SCID (severe combined immunodeficient non-human) mouse model to reach the market. SHrN is triple-immunodeficient and is thought to be ideally suited for humanization and tumor xenografts. The model, which has applications in oncology and immunology-related research, was developed for use by academic, government, biopharmaceutical and contract research scientists. SHrN production will be managed in multiple Harlan facilities in the United States and Europe. The SHrN model is currently in production and being distributed to customers.

Huntingdon Life Sciences acquired Harlan Laboratories in May of 2014. The two companies are being rebranded under one name later this year.

The SHrN combines several highly desirable characteristics into one research model. It has both a functional deficit in natural killer cells and a deficiency in T and B cells. Preliminary phenotyping results for SHrN have demonstrated promising benefits in cell uptake and tumor growth. Additionally, SHrN has the advantage of a marked decrease in cell leakage compared to other SCID models. Genetic consistency is ensured through inbreeding, which limits unwanted variability in research efforts. Lastly, as a hairless model, the SHrN eliminates the need for shaving and enhances the observation of tumor growth and imaging clarity.

Cell leakage refers to the occurrence of SCID mice (on specific backgrounds) to produce some functional T and B cells as the mice increase in age. The SHrN model has a decrease in this cell leakage as compared to some traditional SCID models.

Dr. Adrian Hardy, chief operating officer of the Huntingdon and Harlan organization, commented: “We are delighted to make available our innovative SHrN hairless NOD.SCID mouse to the worldwide research community. The new model will help our customers in their important research that leads to bringing innovative therapies to patients.”

“The SHrN was developed with the intent of improving both the effectiveness and convenience of the standard NOD.SCID model,” added Joe Meyer, senior vice president and general manager of Harlan Laboratories, Americas. “At Huntingdon Life Sciences and Harlan Laboratories, we work closely with our customers to bring solutions to them that address gaps in the tools they use to support their research programs. As a consequence, we developed a NOD.SCID model that is hairless and slightly more immunocompromised to support the needs of scientists working in immunology, oncology and other research areas.”

The company introduced the SHrN at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting in Philadelphia that occurred April 19-22.

Huntingdon Life Sciences is a privately held global provider of non-clinical contract research services to the pharmaceutical, crop protection and chemical industries.

Harlan Laboratories Inc. is a privately held leading global provider of nonclinical contract research, research models, animal diets and services to the pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device, crop protection and chemical industries, as well as universities, government and other research organizations. The company serves thousands of customers across North America, Europe and Asia.