Pioneering research by the University of Reading has developed a new way to test the adhesive qualities of drugs under laboratory development which could replace the current practice of using animal tissue. The study by Reading School of Pharmacy, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, has produced a synthetic tissue, a hydrogel, which mimics the properties of mucosal tissues, such as that found in the mouth and stomach, to assess how medicines will react in the body. Mucosal tissues taken from animals are commonly used in the development phase of new drugs.
