We observe World Heart Day at Science Exchange by highlighting a novel technology for assessing cardiac safety, from the Efimov Lab at George Washington University. Other newcomers on our platform that we present to you are ActiveMotif, Oncodesign, QurAlis, and Worldwide Clinical Trials.
ActiveMotif: Time to RIME (Rapid IP-MS of endogenous proteins)
It’s the 20th anniversary of the discovery of chromatin — and researchers can treat their favorite chromatin samples to ActiveMotif’s RIME service (Rapid immunoprecipitation mass spectrometry of endogenous
RIME service from ActiveMotif includes nuclear isolation, sonication, IP, purification, tryptic digestion, MS, and data analysis
proteins). It is an ideal method for identifying transcriptional cofactors and other associated proteins within multi-protein complexes, and is often performed in parallel with ChIP-seq.
A leading provider of kits and services for studying gene regulation (both genetic and epigenetic), ActiveMotif is no stranger to chromatin. RIME is just one of a comprehensive menu of gene regulation services that ActiveMotif offers through Science Exchange — visit the storefront to browse their capabilities.
QurAlis: Harvard team uses Dead Sea microbes in novel assays
Founded in May 2017 by Clifford Woolf, Professor of Neurology and Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School, Kevin Eggan, Professor of Regenerative Biology at Harvard, Kasper Roet, Harvard Research Fellow, and Q-State Biosciences, QurAlis focuses the power of Q-State’s powerful, 100% optical electrophysiology platform on novel, stem cell-derived, disease-in-dish models of ALS.
It’s a Dead Sea microorganism that is the basis of the enabling Q-State technology. QuasAr proteins, derived from this microbe, respond to action potentials and synaptic signals by emitting near-infrared fluorescence. These Optopatch assays thus deliver higher throughput and information content than traditional patch clamp assays, and they also provide better resolution and lower phototoxicity than other optical screening tools.
We’re very excited to have QurAlis join Q-State Biosciences on our network, giving neurobiology researchers easy access to the expertise of the QurAlis team.
In the high-stakes service category of clinical trials, Worldwide stands out. In fact, Worldwide’s Chief Medical and Scientific Officer, Michael F. Murphy, M.D., Ph.D., was recently named one of the PharmaVOICE 100 Most Inspiring People of 2017 — for the impact of Dr. Murphy’s dedication to innovation.
Continuously working to improve trial design and patient outcomes, Worldwide now offers early phase services on the Science Exchange network. Click on the Worldwide storefront to access this major global CRO without needing a separate contract.
Efimov Lab: Predictive preclinical models of cardiovascular toxicology
An apt addition to the Science Exchange platform, in time for World Heart Day (September 29!), is the Efimov Laboratory at George Washington University.
Known around the world as a leader in cardiovascular science and biomedical engineering, Dr. Igor Efimov and his team developed a method for optically mapping organotypic cultures of donor human heart slices, enabling users to test the cardiac safety and efficacy of therapeutic candidates.
The culture method preserves heart tissue architecture and extracellular matrix — aspects of heart health that cannot be revealed by iPSC-derived cardiac cells or other traditional assays for cardiovascular toxicology. Visit the lab’s storefront for a list of their recent exciting publications — this is clearly a team to watch.
Oncodesign: Preclinical assessment of anti-cancer therapies
True thought leaders in the field of preclinical drug discovery and development, Oncodesign made the news last year when it partnered with Bristol-Myers Squibb to develop novel macrocyclic candidates and test them using their proprietary xenograft models and imaging technology.
Now, Oncodesign’s services are easily accessible to Science Exchange requesters. We get extremely excited thinking that a requester on our platform with a promising therapeutic candidate may now use Oncodesign’s Predict®, Chi-mice®, Pharmimage® and other platforms to characterize their candidate, speeding it along the path to potential cancer patients. Start a conversation with this leading CRO by submitting your Scope of Work here.
By Natalie Foote, Director of Service Provider Operations, Science Exchange | www.scienceexchange.com
In this Provider Innovation Profile, we’re proud to feature Transcriptic, whose automated cellular and molecular biology platform enables scalable life science research with flexibility and precision.
Automation is a rapidly advancing area of biotechnology, and Science Exchange hopes to give our researchers access to unique robotics platforms while helping them save on equipment costs and manage laboratory space limitations.
Transcriptic’s robotic cloud lab paradigm means biologists can be running experiments on the other side of the planet from their lab, leveraging a bank of robotic workcells for massive experimentation.
Transcriptic frees researchers to focus on the creative aspects of their science by providing faster, more reliable and repeatable processes with vastly lower capital costs than previously possible.
Multiple integrated automated devices per workcell
Transparency: No other service provider on the planet can tell you exactly how they run an experiment on the user’s behalf. Transcriptic provides deep transparency into how users’ experiments were run by executing experiments exactly as specified and also providing retrospective diagnostic data on individual instrument performance during the experiment.
Flexible robotics: Being a robotic cloud lab, the Transcriptic system can dynamically provision robotic resources to process samples for users. For example, the system might start the week at a scale of one plate and end the week on hundreds of plates. Users only pay for the resources they use, reaping the reproducibility and throughput benefits of robotics without any of the overhead.
Easy multiplexing: The Transcriptic web application makes it easy as checking a box to detect an additional analyte in your sample. When it’s that easy, you can perform multiplexed quantiation of more analytes, starting to generate a more accurate picture of the phenotypic state of your sample.
Featured Service: Mesocale Discovery (MSD) Assay
The MSD assay, validated in many bioanalytical methods per U.S. FDA and EMA guidances, is offered as a service by Transcriptic. The Mesoscale Discovery Sector S 600 instrument is fully integrated with the Transcriptic robotic cloud lab.
The MSD S 600 instrument performs multiplexed detection of up to 10 analytes per well, ensuring the highest data-to-sample quantity efficiency, in immunoassays. Multiple assay panels are available from the V-Plex line, all conducted with complete automated precision by robots in the cloud. Custom panel assays are also available through the MSD U-Plex system.
Why requesters choose Transcriptic
Transcriptic, in collaboration with multiple biopharma companies and non-academic laboratories, has delivered many peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations.
Transcriptic presented one interesting study at SynBioBeta 2016. In collaboration with EpiBiome, Transcriptic’s automated platform provided a robust, reproducible and high-throughput method for on-demand microbiome characterization. This workflow captured sample prep through NGS and sequencing analysis in 7-10 days, allowing for fast, iterative cycles of microbiome screening.
Contract review, service provider qualification, and security of intellectual property among major concerns for biotech and pharma leaders surveyed at 2017 industry conferences
PALO ALTO, Calif.– More than 100 biotechnology and drug development leaders who responded to surveys conducted during industry conferences earlier this year reported a wide range of barriers to the outsourcing of research and development (R&D) services, including the contracts review process, intellectual property (IP) security concerns, and service provider qualification. The surveys were conducted by Science Exchange, the world’s leading and most secure platform for outsourced research and development (R&D), during the 2017 Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) International Convention and 2017 Drug Industry Association (DIA) Global Annual Meeting.
More than 75 percent of Science Exchange survey respondents ranked the following concerns as barriers (a significant barrier or somewhat of a barrier) to the outsourcing of R&D services:
Having contracts reviewed and signed
Security of IP;
Identifying service providers with required expertise;
Qualifying service providers; and
Negotiating pricing.
Time management related to R&D outsourcing was also reported as having a significant impact on these R&D leaders, with over 40 percent of those responding to the survey indicating they spent more than 20 hours to onboard each new outsourcing partner, from the request for proposal process, through contracting and start of the project. Finally, further demonstrating the impact of the time spent on administrative tasks related to outsourcing, more than 75 percent of survey respondents reported that the “hassle” of bringing on a new partner has previously led them to choose an existing vendor rather than seek out a more qualified option.
“The results of this survey echo the same concerns we heard from the leading biotech and pharma companies who now rely on Science Exchange to help them efficiently manage their outsourced R&D services,” said Elizabeth Iorns, Ph.D., co-founder and CEO of Science Exchange. “In review of enterprise clients’ experiences, we find that our Science Exchange clients save thousands of work hours each year on procurement, business operations, contracting and legal resources, and administrative tasks related to outsourcing — time that can instead be spent in discovery. It’s gratifying to see that we’re able to fulfill our goal to support the scientific discovery process by removing barriers to innovation for our clients.”
Latest release gives enterprise clients access to real-time data to improve reporting and decision-making for outsourced R&D investments
PALO ALTO CA, Sept. 11, 2017 – Demonstrating the company’s commitment to support its clients’ growth plans by optimizing data aggregation and business intelligence, Science Exchange, the world’s leading and most secure platform for outsourced research and development (R&D), recently released the latest version of its enterprise dynamic report tool. The tool enables Science Exchange’s enterprise clients, including some of the world’s top pharma and biotech companies, to perform real-time tracking of key performance indicators (KPIs) related to their outsourced R&D investments.
“The Science Exchange enterprise dynamic report gives me the ability to tease out diverse suppliers and export spend data. Our procurement management team has been thrilled with the report,” said Gregory Smith, Associate Director, Indirect R&D Procurement, Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries, Ltd.
This latest enterprise dynamic report update allows enterprise clients like Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries, Ltd., to:
Track spend, budget performance, and outsourcing efficiency in real time;
Gain visibility into service provider performance metrics; and
Better assess efficiency of outsourced R&D programs.
“With this dynamic reporting tool, our enterprise clients are able to gain a whole new understanding of category-specific purchasing behaviors within their organizations. R&D and procurement leaders can receive and proactively analyze – in real time – data and business intelligence that can help them quickly assess the performance and impact of their outsourced R&D programs,” said Elizabeth Iorns, Ph.D., co-founder and CEO of Science Exchange. “Science Exchange helps our clients make data-driven business decisions, while at the same time giving researchers quick and secure access to more than 2,500 scientific service providers – allowing researchers to focus on innovation and discovery.”
Learn more about enterprise partnerships with Science Exchange, and request a demo of our private marketplaces for outsourced R&D: www.scienceexchange.com/enterprise
Cambridge-based LabCentral’s high-potential startups will now have access to the Science Exchange network of more than 2,500 qualified scientific service providers
PALO ALTO, Calif. and CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (August 30, 2017) – Biotech innovation hub LabCentral today announced that it has signed Science Exchange, the world’s leading and most secure platform for outsourced research and development (R&D), as a sponsor to support its life science and biotech resident startups. Companies within LabCentral’s shared workspaces are now able to order R&D services instantly via a customized Science Exchanged-powered marketplace, with access to more than 2,500 qualified scientific service providers.
“We’ve designed LabCentral as a supportive and nurturing environment designed to inspire interaction and collaboration, providing everything that early-stage companies need to thrive, moving their science forward faster, and cost-effectively,” said LabCentral Cofounder and President Johannes Fruehauf, M.D., Ph.D. , LabCentral. “We’re thrilled to have Science Exchange support our companies by offering instant access to their network of innovative service providers — it’s another way we can provide our startups the resources they need to accelerate their groundbreaking discoveries.”
LabCentral joins more than 30 enterprise clients that are using Science Exchange-powered marketplaces to manage their outsourced R&D. This partnership addresses the needs of LabCentral’s unique ecosystem, giving its startup network the same level of access to advanced scientific services that is enjoyed by Science Exchange’s established global pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients. With these new resources, early-stage companies will be able to continue to drive their discoveries forward.
A biotech innovation hub, LabCentral is a first-of-its-kind shared laboratory space designed as a launch-pad for high-potential life science and biotech startups. It offers fully permitted laboratory and office space for dozens of startups. LabCentral provides facility and administrative support, skilled laboratory personnel, and other critical services and support that early-stage companies need to begin laboratory operations on day one.
“The opportunity to partner with organizations like LabCentral is why we founded Science Exchange six years ago,” said Dr. Elizabeth Iorns, founder and CEO of Science Exchange. “We deliver efficient and secure access to thousands of qualified scientific service providers – removing significant barriers to innovation and helping companies bring important products to market faster.”
The Science Exchange marketplace will help LabCentral’s resident companies:
Gain immediate access to qualified service providers. Science Exchange offers a network of more than 2,500 service providers that have been qualified through a stringent, ISO 9001-certified evaluation process that includes metrics tied to performance on past projects.
Reduce administrative and regulatory review costs. Under the partnership, all service providers on the LabCentral-Science Exchange network are available under a single contract that protects intellectual property and confidentiality. Science Exchange’s in-house audit team also conducts inspections to ensure that contracted service providers possess necessary certifications, licenses, informed consent of subjects, and data security.
Save time and money. The LabCentral entrepreneurs and startups working on groundbreaking scientific discoveries will now be able to quickly request competitive bids through the Science Exchange platform and select the right partner to keep their projects on track.
LabCentral is a first-of-its-kind shared laboratory workspace in the heart of the Kendall Square, Cambridge, biotech innovation hub. Designed as a launchpad for high-potential life-sciences and biotech startups, it offers everything startups need to begin laboratory operations on day one and move their science forward faster and more cost-efficiently. This includes: fully permitted laboratory and office space, first-class facility and administrative support, skilled laboratory personnel, a domain-relevant expert speaker series ‒ as well as the other critical services and support. A private, nonprofit institution, LabCentral’s first site opened in 2013, thanks to a capital grant from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, with support from its real-estate partner, MIT. Founding sponsors include Triumvirate Environmental and Johnson & Johnson Innovation.
In 2007, Charles Lieber, the Harvard scientist who many say is in the running for a Nobel prize, co-founded Vista NanoBioSciences to enable drug discovery researchers to use his team’s nanosensor technologies for label-free, ultrasensitive detection of proteins, nucleic acids, and even single viral particles.
Vista NanoBioSciences’ ultrasensitive biomarker detection platform (left) uses functionalized nanowires (“NW”) that respond to interactions with individual biomolecules.
Now available through Science Exchange, Vista NanoBioSciences offers biomarker assays using its portable NanoBioSensor™ and BioTracker™ platforms. Vista’s NanoBioSensor precisely detects and measures biomarkers in a finger-stick drop of blood, other bodily fluid, or tissue culture – without labeling and in less than 10 minutes. Vista’s BioTracker provides continuous monitoring of dynamic changes in the targeted analytes of any biological material. Both devices are portable, exhibiting very high sensitivity (10³ increase over ELISA), high specificity, across multiple logs of concentration, in real time.
Taking the pain out of protein purification with MacroDSF
Empowered by high-throughput protein purification and structure determination technologies, structure-based drug discovery is enjoying a resurgence.
NovAliX, a new provider on the Science Exchange network, gives you access to the ProteoPlex MacroDSF platform, an exciting tool for rapidly optimizing conditions for protein purification and crystallization.
The instrument quickly optimizes protein concentration, pH value, salt, buffer, stabilizing additive, etc — potentially increasing a purified protein’s stability or even the resolution of its crystal structure!
NovAliX also offers a broad range of biophysical characterization services to provide a complete picture of the protein of interest.
Fluidigm custom assay development
Interested in Fluidigm’s powerful mass cytometry and microfluidics platforms, but lack the resources to design the perfect assay?
Now you can take advantage of Fluidigm’s expertise using the company’s own team of assay development scientists. Through Science Exchange, you can order custom assays for Fluidigm’s CyTOF®, Helios®, and integrated fluidic circuit-based platforms.
Oncology, from ABL1 to ZAP70
Based in Freiburg, Germany, ProQinase has been supporting oncology research for 16 years. Now on Science Exchange, ProQinase offers biochemical assay services (such as kinase screens), cellular assay services (such as proliferation, invasion and spheroid assays), and in vivo assay services (including immuno-oncology and metastasis models).
The scientific staff at ProQinase are thought leaders in oncology research. At the 2017 AACR Annual Meeting, they presented a novel assay platform to distinguish ATP-competitive from non-ATP-competitive kinase inhibitors.
Medicinal chemistry and process optimization
If you’re looking for a full-service laboratory to execute your chemistry projects, you’ll be happy to see the addition of Kalexsyn, a chemical synthesis powerhouse based in Michigan, U.S.A, to the Science Exchange network.
Whether it’s developing novel scaffolds, SAR, modification of complex natural products or challenging macrocyclic peptides, Kalexsyn’s deep bench of Ph.D. chemists provides IP-enabling expertise.
The Kalexsyn team has produced over 1000 publications and patents and has served over 85 pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
In this Provider Innovation Profile, we’re proud to feature Melior Discovery, a pioneer of in vivo phenotypic screening and a leader in the area of drug repositioning.
Melior’s platform evaluates compounds through up to 40 different animal models representing 14 broad therapeutic areas, potentially uncovering therapeutic efficacy that might be undetected using traditional assessments.
Recently, Melior made the news with its novel opioidTRACE® Analgesic Profiling Platform. Given the need to develop low-abuse analgesics to address the opioid crisis, Melior has configured an in vivo platform aimed at specifically profiling opioid therapeutics and related analgesics.
The opioidTRACE® platform addresses the multiple features characteristic of opioids, including rodent models that evaluate acute analgesia, chronic analgesia, respiratory depression, GI mobility, and abuse liability. In addition to opioid testing, Melior has a wide array of animal models of analgesia ranging models of acute pain to chronic neuropathy models.
Melior’s new panel is just the latest demonstration of the team’s unique know-how in applying “production-mode” methods for in vivo screening across multiple therapeutic areas. Its proprietary theraTRACE® platform enables rapid and cost-effective identification of new therapeutic potential by systematically screening candidates in a diverse array of validated in vivo disease models.
Fibrosis is another disease area for which Melior’s panels have exemplified the utility of in vivo phenotypic screening. Melior has validated models of liver and lung fibrosis; download the validation data for these models from the Resources section of Melior’s Science Exchange storefront.
Why Requesters are Choosing Melior for In vivo Studies
Melior’s capability directly translates to efficiencies combined with high levels of quality for their clients. Positive ratings and testimonials illustrate the benefits that attract repeat business for Melior:
High reproducibility and predictive power of in vivo methodologies, models, and assays assuring high quality of data
Lower overall costs resulting from the availability of highly cost effective preclinical services from Melior
Rapid responses to requests for service and quick turnaround times for preclinical studies
Ability to rapidly customize, design, and modify models in response to requests for specialized in vivo services or changes in protocols or unexpected results at any stage of the study
Dr. Sridharan Rajamani, Senior Research Scientist at Gilead Sciences, said that his team chose Melior Discovery because they were responsive and cost effective. “We are staying with them as a chosen scientific partner because of their thoughtful scientific input to experimental design and attention to detail,” said Dr. Rajamani. “Their expertise and flexibility allowed us to quickly adapt the study design and evaluate additional outcome measures to pursue unexpected activity.”
Interested in working with Melior Discovery? Request a quote to start the discussion.
Image of Colon Tumor Stem Cells courtesy of OcellO
If you aren’t exploring the latest cell culture models of human tissue for nonclinical and preclinical testing, you should be.
That’s the bottom line of today’s Science Exchange service provider roundup — three of the five newest service providers on our platform are experts in developing predictive models.
Advances in predictive model systems
Axiogenesis, based in Germany, develops iPSC-derived models of cardiac tissue, neurons, and other cell types. In late 2016, the company made the news when researchers at the United States FDA published a peer-reviewed study showing that Axiogenesis’s Cor.4U cardiomyocyte model was the most predictive model in cardiac safety tests. Last month, researchers at Wake Forest University used the Cor.4U model to develop a digitally trackable beating-heart biosensor. The future of cardiac safety clearly lies beyond hERG channel electrophysiology!
Generating tissue models with precise spatial resolution is possible using 3D bioprinting, in which Cypre Biotech is an expert. Based in San Francisco, USA, the company focuses on customizing the extracellular matrix of tumor microenvironment models to match certain cancer subtypes. Given the impact of new cancer drugs, including certain immunotherapies, on the tumor microenvironment, technologies such as that developed by Cypre are going to be needed for testing safety and efficacy.
The third service provider in this roundup excelling in the development of clinically relevant microtissue models is OcellO, headquartered in the Netherlands. Researchers at OcellO have published numerous peer-reviewed studies showing how combining three-dimensional tissue culture with high-throughput imaging can enable efficient, automated screening and phenotypic profiling. Their most recent publication showed that phenotypic screening of kinase inhibitors could reveal potential new targets for polycystic kidney disease (view abstract in the Resources section of the OcellO storefront).
Analytical methods for translational research
As model systems advance in complexity and throughput, analytical methods must keep pace. Two service providers new on Science Exchange are known for their expertise in developing reliable analytical methods.
Pangaea Oncology is one of the most prestigious laboratories in the world in the fields of molecular diagnostics, pathology, and related analysis services for translational research. We are thrilled to have the Pangaea team, led by expert Dr. Rafael Rosell and Nobel laureate Dr. Santiago Ramón y Cajal, join the Science Exchange platform! Pangaea Oncology was the first laboratory in Spain to be accredited to perform certain genetic tests for cancer in serum/plasma samples, advancing precision medicine.
We also bring you Metis Laboratories, whose analytical expertise centers on radiotracer-based assays. These assays remain one of the most sensitive and specific platforms for assessing ligand binding and compound distribution; however, complex handling requirements mean that outsourcing these studies is far more practical than developing radiotracer assays in house.
We are excited to attend the 23rd Annual Biotech Symposium hosted by Charles River, a leading service provider on the Science Exchange network — and we hope to see you there! Join your colleagues and industry experts from Bluebird, Janssen, Pfizer, and Amgen in Carlsbad, CA September 11–13.
With five different session tracks, join Charles River to learn about:
Biotherapeutic development programs and related case studies
Biomolecules and modifications to prolong a molecule’s half-life
Preclinical development of inhaled therapeutics
Microphysiology systems for biotherapeutics
Arrive one day early and attend the pre-symposium workshop titled, Where Does My Protein Go and Why Does It Matter? The Role of PK/PD in Biotherapeutics on Sunday, September 10.
Discounted room rates are available until August 11 and special registration fees are available to SOT BTSS members.
Science Exchange First & Only R&D Outsourcing Platform to Receive EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework Certification
PALO ALTO CA, July 20, 2017 – Science Exchange today announced that it is the first and only R&D outsourcing platform to receive EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework certification from the U.S. Department of Commerce. This certification demonstrates the company’s commitment to the protection and privacy of sensitive data shared by its customers and scientific service providers on the Science Exchange platform.
Designed by the U.S. Department of Commerce, the European Commission and Swiss Administration, the EU-US Privacy Shield Framework provides companies with a method to conform to data protection requirements when transferring personal data from the European Union and Switzerland to the United States in support of transatlantic business. This new framework replaces the EU-U.S. Safe Harbor program.
“The privacy and security of data for scientific research is a top priority for our customers and service providers, and we saw this certification as an important step for Science Exchange, especially in light of recent cyberattacks that affected companies across the healthcare and biopharma industries,” said Elizabeth Iorns, Ph.D., co-founder and CEO of Science Exchange. “The thousands of companies that use the Science Exchange platform can be assured that we are committed to the protection of the personal and scientific data entrusted to us.”
To receive EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework certification, companies must commit to a range of data management requirements, including that they will:
Inform individuals about how their data is processed
Maintain data integrity and purpose limitation
Ensure accountability for data transferred to third parties
Review and certify that all requirements are met on an annual basis
In addition to being the only R&D outsourcing platform with EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework certification, Science Exchange is also SOC 2 compliant, which validates that the company meets standardized criteria for managing data privacy and security – a certification that is increasingly required by regulators and auditors. Science Exchange is also ISO 9001 certified, which recognizes that the company adheres to strict quality management principles and maintains a consistent quality assurance program.
For more details about the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework, the certification process, or to view a list of participating companies, visit www.privacyshield.gov.
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