New Chemistry Platform to Speed the Production of Molecular Imaging and Therapy
06 March 2007
Biotage AB and McMaster University have signed a joint agreement to develop a new chemistry platform to speed the production of molecular imaging and therapy agents.
As part of the agreement, Biotage will provide funding and instruments, including an Initiator microwave synthesizer, SP4 flash purification system and V10 Evaporator. These automated instruments work together to streamline workflow and speed production. The McMaster Institute of Applied Radiation Sciences (McIARS) will apply funding and equipment to speed the development of novel molecular imaging agents for PET, SPECT and radiotherapy agents for treatment applications. Biotage is the only company that offers solutions for synthesis, purification and evaporation, providing instruments and consumables for these key development steps.
"This partnership brings together cutting-edge synthesis and purification tools with radiopharmaceutical research which spans basic science to the development and testing of novel imaging and therapy agents. The new platform technologies will facilitate the process of producing tracers and therapeutics and it will be particularly useful for developing radiolabeled analogues of new drug candidates. The latter aim is particularly important as imaging is playing an increasingly important role in early clinical trials", stated Dr. John F. Valliant, associate professor of chemistry and medical physics, and acting director of McIARS.
Kelvin Hammond, vice-president of business development remarked, "Molecular imaging will play a significant role in the future of drug discovery by enabling biodistribution and pharmacokinetic data to be acquired early on in the drug discovery process. This will enable companies to weed out compounds that are likely to fail before they enter larger and more expensive human clinical trials.
"The Biotage mission has always been to develop innovative solutions to accelerate the drug discovery process. In partnering with McMaster University, Biotage can play an important role in advancing the development of radiopharmaceuticals. Speed, yield, purity and safety - all proven attributes of Biotage instrumentation - are critical factors for effective production of molecular imaging and therapy agents particularly those with short half-life isotopes", said Torben Jögensen, president and CEO of Biotage AB.
