Contract research news in brief
pharmafile | February 23, 2011 | News story | Research and Development |Â Â Bioanalytical Systems, Evotec, Iris Pharma, Kancera, Kinaxo Biotechnologies, NSF International, Pharmalytica Services, iNovaciaÂ
Acquisitions by Evotec, Kancera and NSF International head our latest CRO news round-up, along with updates from BASi and Iris Pharma.
Swedish oncology company Kancera has bought contract research organisation (CRO) iNovacia, a provider of assay development and lead optimisation services, as well as medicinal and computational chemistry, ADME profiling, fragment-based NMR screening, and protein-protein/ligand interaction studies. iNovacia will operate as a dedicated CRO division within Kancera and retain ongoing partnerships with Provid Pharmaceuticals of the USA and Russian company Asinex in the area of chemical screening libraries.
Evotec has agreed to pay 12 million euros ($16m) to acquire Kinaxo Biotechnologies, boosting its portfolio of drug discovery and early development tools and services. Kinaxo has developed a technology platform to study cellular processes in cancer and molecular responses to drug treatment. The deal is expected to close in April, and Evotec says adding Kinaxo to its portfolio will boost 2011 revenues by around 2.5 million euros.
NSF International, a provider of testing and certification services, has bought fellow US company Pharmalytica Services for an undisclosed amount. The unit will be renamed NSF Pharmalytica and will operate primarily as a GLP and GMP contract laboratory, providing analytical testing, consulting, training, registration, and research and development services.
Bioanalytical Systems Inc of the USA has extended the capabilities of its Culex Automated In Vivo Sampling Services with the addition of the ability to work with large animals. BASi said the platform makes programmed sampling of blood and other body fluids possible in large as well as small animals, “without human intervention any time of the day or night or continuously for 24 hours or more”. The system is designed to minimise stress in lab animals, which can create a significant impact on physiological parameters and make data difficult to interpret.
French CRO Iris Pharma says it has developed a new model of ocular inflammation – endotoxin-induced uveitis – which can be used to evaluate the efficacy of pharmaceutical products for the treatment of inflammatory diseases of the eye. The CRO previously developed another ocular inflammation model called experimental autoimmune uveitis, but says the new model “provides the possibility to investigate anti-inflammatory drugs that mainly act on the recruitment of inflammatory cells such as polymorphonuclear cells or macrophages”.
Phil Taylor
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