Medivir outsources compound management to BioAscent

NEWHOUSE, UK - Aug 23, 2017 - Medivir outsources compound management to BioAscent

Entire library of 56,000 samples transferred in under 3 days

NEWHOUSE, UK (23 August 2017): BioAscent Discovery Limited (www.bioascent.com) has taken delivery of Medivir AB’s compound collection of around 56,000 samples, to manage on an outsourced basis. To ensure business continuity during this transfer process, the complete collection was transferred within three working days, and all compounds were available for delivery to Medivir discovery scientists in less than one week. As well as the existing collection of protease inhibitors and nucleoside analogues, new compounds are being synthesised and delivered to BioAscent each week from Medivir’s CRO partner in India. BioAscent collect and integrate these new compounds into the existing collection and also prepare master stock solutions for Medivir drug discovery activities. Medivir scientists order compounds on a weekly basis and BioAscent supplies them in ready to be tested formats. 

BioAscent’s Newhouse facility offers scalable and highly secure infrastructure, capable of managing solid and liquid compounds, in numerous tube and microplate formats, from ambient to -20 °C. Medivir’s compounds are stored as solids or DMSO solutions in master vials within BioAscent’s automated stores at room temperature or -20 oC. Samples to be tested are prepared as requested, and with a turnaround time of just 2.5 working days from receipt of order to delivery to Medivir in Sweden, service time is as fast as when managed in-house by Medivir. BioAscent is also processing and despatching compounds to Medivir research partners in Europe, the USA and Asia.

To manage the complex requirements of its pharma and biotech clients, BioAscent uses Mosaic sample management software as standard. The company has the flexibility to work with other sample management software as required, and Medivir is able to search and order samples held at BioAscent.

Explaining the quick and smooth transfer, Dr Sylviane Boucharens, BioAscent’s COO/CSO, commented: “The BioAscent team is highly experienced at planning the transfer process in meticulous detail, and the Medivir and BioAscent teams combined well to ensure that there was little or no downtime.”

Mr Paul Smith, CEO, BioAscent, added:  “The number of companies outsourcing the management of their compound libraries to BioAscent continues to grow apace and we are very pleased to be managing Medivir’s expanding library. Our purpose-built facility near Edinburgh, Scotland is designed for both small and large collections, and we expect to have more announcements in the near future. This continued growth and trust in BioAscent’s world-class facility in Scotland is the perfect platform from which to build our new range of complementary drug discovery services.”

For more information please visit the BioAscent website at www.bioascent.com.

Editors’ Notes

BioAscent Discovery Ltd.

Founded in 2013, BioAscent is the rejuvenated former Merck Sharpe and Dohme (MSD) automated compound management and logistics facility, based within the BioCity Scotland site at Newhouse, Scotland, UK. The company consists of a state-of-the-art facility run by a range of highly skilled management, scientists, and technicians with extensive experience in managing specialist compound libraries. It offers the safe and secure storage of customer compound collections, in addition to formatting and worldwide logistics. BioAscent was selected as the Centre of Excellence for the compound management activities of the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI)-funded European Lead Factory, providing secure storage and logistics of the 500,000 sample collection to all seven major pharmaceutical company partners. In addition to the management and distribution of sample collections, BioAscent provides access to chemical collections through www.compoundcloud.com, offering a completely customisable ex-pharma compound collection in ready to screen formats. Compound Cloud is also used to promote novel compound collections to the world-wide BioAscent drug discovery network, on behalf of the collection owners.

Product Enquiries: BioAscent Discovery Ltd. 

Bo’Ness Road, Newhouse, Lanarkshire, ML1 5UH, UK

t:+44 (0) 1698 534 002    e: info@bioascent.com

w: www.bioascent.com

Media enquiries: Alto Marketing Limited

David Robinson

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