Blood-Brain Barrier Models (Perfusable and Static)
Perfusable human brain endothelial tubules and static BBB co-cultures for permeability, transporter and CNS penetration work, with one route carrying a live public price.
| Category | Ready-to-Use 3D Tissue Models |
|---|---|
| Unit | One plate carrying 40 or 64 perfusable tubules (prepared route), or one plate or chip box plus supplement (self-assembly route) |
| Lead time | 1-3 weeks for the self-assembly components from catalogue stock; quote-dependent for prepared perfused tissue, against the vendor's preparation schedule |
| Pricing | Published list price |
| Provenance | Partner manufactured |
| Data current | 2026-09-03 |
Description
The blood-brain barrier is the reason most CNS candidates fail to reach their target, and it is one of the few tissue models in this catalogue where a buyer can put a number on the purchase before speaking to a salesperson. Two routes exist and they are priced completely differently. The self-assembly route is publicly priced end to end: AIM Biotech sells a dedicated BBB Boost supplement alongside its ECM-patterned microfluidic plates, and publishes bundle SKUs pairing the supplement with each plate format, so a buyer can cost a barrier experiment to the chip before committing. Primary human brain microvascular endothelial cells, the cell type the model is built from, also carry a live list price. The prepared route is quote-gated: MIMETAS sells OrganoReady BBB HBMEC as perfusable primary human brain endothelial tubules with functional transporter expression, prepared by its own staff, supplied at 40 or 64 tissue models per plate with all reagents, medium and optimised protocols included and explicitly no cell or ECM handling required by the customer, and publishes no price for it, directing buyers to 'Discuss your needs'. The two routes are not equivalent and the difference is not cost. Buying the prepared plate removes operator-induced variability and the seeding skill requirement entirely; buying the supplement and the plate keeps both, and keeps the flexibility to use your own cells or a disease donor. The functional transporter expression claim is the field that decides between them for most CNS programmes, and it is the field a quote should be forced to state explicitly.
Why this is hard to buy today
The two routes to a barrier model differ by an unpublished amount, because one is priced to the vial on a public storefront and the other is quote-gated with no indicative figure, so no buyer can weigh the prepared plate's removal of operator-induced variability against what that removal actually costs. The decision that should be made on skill availability and transporter requirements gets made on whichever route happened to publish a number.
Price evidence
AIM Biotech live WooCommerce Store API, observed 2026-09-01, all USD: BBB Boost 100X, catalogue BBBST, 1 vial, $190.00. Bundles pairing BBB Boost with each plate format: organiX Plate box of 1 plus 2 vials of BBB Boost, BBBST-OP1, $600.00; organiX Plate box of 3 plus 5 vials, BBBST-OP3, $1,575.00; idenTx 3 Chip 25 chips per box plus 2 vials, BBBST-IX3, $760.00; idenTx 9 Plate box of 8 plus 2 vials, BBBST-IX9, $880.00; idenTx 40 Plate box of 5 plus 5 vials, BBBST-IX40, $2,690.00. The corresponding bare plates on the same date: idenTx 40 Plate IDTX40 box of 5 $2,220.00 ($444.00 per plate, $11.10 per chip); idenTx 9 Plate IDTX9 box of 8 $690.00 ($86.25 per plate, $9.58 per chip); idenTx 3 Chip DAX-1 box of 25 $570.00 ($22.80 per chip); organiX Plate OGNXP-1EA $410.00 and OGNXP-3EA $1,110.00. On the largest bundle the arithmetic is checkable: IDTX40 at $2,220.00 plus five BBB Boost vials at $190.00 each is $3,170.00 against a bundle price of $2,690.00, a saving of $480.00. Cell input, iXCells live store API observed 2026-09-01: Human Brain Microvascular Endothelial Cells HBMVEC, catalogue 10HU-051, $920.00; Rat Brain Microvascular Endothelial Cells RBMEC, $698.00. MIMETAS OrganoReady BBB HBMEC has no public price as at 2026-09-01 and is quote only.
These are supplier list prices we located and recorded, not a quotation from Wetware World. Your price depends on quantity, specification and freight, and is only binding once issued in writing.
What you must specify
A quote cannot be produced without these. Anything you leave open, a supplier will assume, usually expensively.
| # | Parameter |
|---|---|
| 01 | Route: prepared perfused tubules versus plate-plus-supplement you seed yourself |
| 02 | Cell source (primary human brain microvascular endothelial, iPSC-derived, or immortalised) |
| 03 | Whether astrocyte and pericyte compartments are required for a triple co-culture |
| 04 | Named efflux and influx transporters that must be functionally demonstrated, not merely expressed |
| 05 | Barrier acceptance criterion: TEER value or permeability coefficient for a stated tracer |
| 06 | Number of tubules or chips and the replicate structure |
| 07 | Perfusion regime, and whether pumpless rocker-driven flow is acceptable |
| 08 | Imaging requirement and the optical properties the plate must have |
| 09 | Whether a disease or donor-specific background is required |
Quality documentation
Typically available with this item. What actually ships is confirmed on the quotation, per supplier.
- Supplier certificate of analysis for cells or for the prepared plate
- Barrier integrity at release, by TEER or tracer permeability
- Transporter expression evidence per supplier characterisation data
- Tubule formation and lumen patency confirmation for the perfused route
- Sterility and mycoplasma per supplier release testing
Candidate suppliers
Organisations we have identified as capable. Listing does not imply a partnership, an endorsement, or that they have agreed to quote.
| Organisation | Basis for inclusion |
|---|---|
| AIM Biotech | Public WooCommerce Store API queried live 2026-09-01. Returns live USD list prices and SKUs for BBB Boost 100X and for every BBB Boost plus plate bundle, alongside the bare idenTx and organiX plate prices, which makes the bundle discount independently checkable. |
| MIMETAS | Fetched live 2026-09-01. OrganoReady BBB HBMEC described as 3D perfusable primary human brain endothelial tubules with functional transporter expression, suitable for permeability, transporter and toxicity studies; OrganoReady generally supplied at 40 or 64 tissue models per plate, prepared by MIMETAS staff, with all reagents and culture medium and optimised protocols included and no cell or ECM handling needed. Pricing behind 'Discuss your needs'. |
| iXCells Biotechnologies | Public WooCommerce Store API queried live 2026-09-01. HBMVEC catalogue 10HU-051 returns a live USD list price. Cell supply only. |
| MatTek (Sartorius), AIM Biotech distributor | Distributes AIM Biotech consumables at a published uplift over direct purchase, which is worth checking on any quote routed through a distributor rather than the manufacturer. |
Sources
doc WW-TM-77577 · rev 2026-09-03 · research use only · prices indicative and not binding until quoted in writing