BioTrove unveils RapidFire 300 at ASMS

31-May-2009 - Last updated on 01-Jun-2009 at 10:07 GMT

BioTrove is taking aim at the drug development sector with its RapidFire 300 absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination (ADME) screening system that, it claims, can analyse samples in a fraction of the time taken by traditional HPLC.

The new system expands the in vitro ADME applications of the platform beyond the drug-drug interaction (DDI) screening offered by previous generations of the RapidFire-MS range.

Speaking at the American Society for Mass Spectrometry’s (ASMS) conference in Philadelphia, Can Ozbal, BioTrove’s VP and general manager of the RapidFire unit, said that customer demand had been a key driver for development of the system.

Dr Ozbal explained that: “ADME data is critical in all phases of a fully integrated drug development program but data in the lead discovery stage was previously limited by time and labour intensive screening platforms.”

He went on to say that in contrast with HPLC systems “[the] RapidFire 300 was developed to meet investigators’ demand for high quality in vitro ADME data with a short turnaround time.”

The system can provide data oncytochrome P450 (CYP) and glycoprotein inhibition, a compound’s metabolic stability and plasma protein binding characteristics as well as information on permeability.

Along with the application expansion and faster throughput, where samples are processed in six to eight seconds, the system can be run unattended for a 24-hour period, which BioTrove believes provides a further efficiency boost.

GSK invests in RapidFire

Drug giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is the most recent pharmaceutical firm to have invested in the technology.

Last month BioTrove reported that the UK group had ordered two of the new units for R&D facilities in the US, having been impressed by the RapidFire system in place at its recent acquisition Sirtris Pharmaceuticals.

Andrew Pope of GSK’s molecular discovery research division explained that the firm’s recent decision to focus R&D on specific disease areas means it needs “timely, biologically relevant data to help move our research efforts forward, faster.”

“We look forward to utilising RapidFire for label-free monitoring of native-substrate modifications by drug targets. This technology gives us a way to incorporate mass spectrometry into our existing high throughput workflow.”