Inventia Life Science's bioprinted ovarian cancer model opens door for HMRI's efavirenz repurposing

12 November 2025

Inventia Life Science's 3D bioprinted patient-derived cancer models has opened the door for Hunter Medical Research Institute to advance its drug repurposing program into Australian New Zealand clinical trials.

The drug in question, efavirenz, is known as an antiretroviral NNRTI (non‑nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor) used for treating HIV. Its repurposing has the potential to improve the survival of patients with high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC), the most common subtype of this highly deadly cancer. Currently, the standard chemotherapy for HGSOC is platinum–taxane (carboplatin + paclitaxel), however, the majority of patients relapse, often leading to platinum resistance. 

Drug repurposing is a powerful approach because it makes possible for drug developers to use the existing knowledge of drug pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics properties, dramatically reducing the time, cost, and risk of bringing a therapy into clinical testing. For patients, this means potentially faster access to new treatment options, particularly in diseases with limited therapeutic options.

In their December 2024 study, the use of human-based 3D bioprinted cell lines and clinically relevant patient-derived 3D organoids, has empowered Hunter Medical Research Institute to not only determine the efficacy of efavirenz in treating high-grade serous ovarian cancer, but also to better understand the mechanisms by which efavirenz achieves this effect. Indeed, screening data derived from human-based in vitro models indicated that efavirenz induces cytotoxicity in ovarian cancer primarily by triggering DNA damage, activating ATM–p53–CHK2 signaling, and causing cell‑cycle arrest, rather than acting as a classical PARP inhibitor.

The patients eligible for this clinical study will be adult females with platinum resistant or potentially platinum sensitive high grade serous ovarian, fallopian tube and primary peritoneal cancer.

The 3D bioprinted HGSOC models were produced by Inventia Life Science's RASTRUM™ 3D bioprinter using its proprietary high‑precision, microfluidic drop‑on‑demand printhead and PEG-based bioinks with tripeptide arginine-glycine-aspartic acid biofunctionalization, enabling to mimic the tumor microenvironment and thus show more realistic drug responses. Through this technology, Alexandria-based Inventia Life Science creates disease-relevant, assay-ready human 3D models at scale, allowing researchers to make confident decisions in drug discovery.