CLEVELAND, March 25 /PRNewswire/ -- ChanTest, the leading provider of
ion channel testing services for drug-discovery and development
applications, will feature at the SBS conference the company's expanding
line of ion channel services designed to give drug-discovery researchers
the early information they need to identify the most promising compounds,
and eliminate those that could be harmful -- before they invest millions in
the drug-development process. The 14th Annual Society for Biomolecular
Sciences (SBS) Conference takes place April 6-10, 2008, at the America's
Center Convention Complex in St. Louis, Missouri. ChanTest is exhibiting in
booth 1104.
"When completed early in the drug-discovery process, ChanTest's
functional ion channel screens can save considerable time, money, and other
resources," said Dr. Arthur (Buzz) Brown, founder and CEO of ChanTest. "Our
automated and manual patch clamp profiling screens provide more-accurate
results than binding screens since results are generated by measuring the
functional effects of drugs directly on ion channel currents. For
higher-throughput screening, we use FLIPRTetra(R) to measure membrane
potential and potassium flux for voltage-gated and calcium-activated
potassium channels. Too often, researchers identify unacceptable safety
risks late in the drug-development process -- during the GLP (Good
Laboratory Practices) patch-clamp studies that are required by the FDA for
an IND (Investigational New Drug) submission. Using our functional screens
during the discovery profiling process helps avoid this situation."
Dr. Brown continued, "Unlike most service organizations, ChanTest has
validated its cell lines for testing at each phase of the drug-discovery
process. Whether customers need initial high-throughput screening of hits,
high-sensitivity screens for lead identification and lead optimization, or
safety testing in preparation for an IND submission -- our results will
correlate. We tailor each customer's service program to meet their
discovery and budgetary goals. We're proud of the reputation we've built
over the past 10 years -- delivering fast, accurate, and reliable results
on thousands of compounds to pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers
worldwide. We don't just deliver raw data -- our ion channel experts tell
customers what the results mean."
ChanTest scientists were the first to prove hERG as the target for
adverse cardiac events linked to non-cardiac drugs: Seldane (terfenadine),
Propulsid (cisapride), and Nizoral (ketoconazole), and ChanTest pioneered
the development of functional, cell-based ion channel testing as a means to
predict cardiac side effects produced by non-cardiac drugs. Such testing is
now a standard component of regulatory submissions prior to the approval of
drugs for use in humans. ChanTest is committed to innovation, and is
leading the next major advance in ion channel research and services with a
$10 million program to develop the world's most extensive library or
catalog of ion channels. ChanTest's expert electrophysiologists fully
validate the ion channels for interrogation with functional,
pharmacological, and biochemical assays.
About ChanTest
The preeminent ion channel services company, ChanTest serves its drug
discovery and development customers with GLP safety and automated screening
assays using its library of ion channel-expressing cell lines -- the most
comprehensive in the world. Since its inception in 1998, ChanTest has
tested more than 12,000 compounds for more than 250 global pharmaceutical
and biotech companies -- helping them to achieve their drug safety and
discovery goals. ChanTest works in partnership with customers to speed the
drug-development process, save time and money, and ultimately -- to help
make better, safer drugs. Because of ChanTest's seminal role in this field,
along with the company's uncompromising commitment to quality, ChanTest was
named "most trusted fee-for-service provider" for ion channel screening in
the HTStec Ion Channel Trends Survey for two years in a row. ChanTest is
based in Cleveland, Ohio. For more information, please visit
http://www.chantest.com.
SOURCE ChanTest
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Related links:
http://www.chantest.com
CONTACT:
Robert D. Schultek of ChanTest,
+1-216-332-1665, ext. 108, or Cell, +1-216-272-4449,
rschultek@chantest.com
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