BioIVT expands drug safety testing and toxicology portfolio

27-Mar-2018 - Last updated on 27-Mar-2018 at 19:31 GMT

(Image: Getty/vshivkova)

BioIVT has acquired the multinational cell-based assay company Ascendance, adding proprietary bioengineered micro-liver platforms to its portfolio.

BioIVT, formerly BioreclamationIVT, provides biospecimens and related services.

The company today announced its acquisition of Ascendance, which was formed in November 2015 following the merger of Hepregen Corporation and the ESI BIO products division of BioTime Inc.

As per the acquisition – terms of which were not disclosed – BioIVT is adding Hepregen’s HepatoPac, HepatoMune, and HepatoStem liver cell and stem cell product lines to its drug safety testing and toxicology portfolios.

The Ascendance Hepatopac technology "solves the challenge of studying both slow and rapidly metabolized drugs by enabling culture longevity of hepatocytes for up to 4 weeks," said BioIVT Vice President of Marketing Dr. Courtney Noah.

Ascendance will join BioIVT's ADME-Tox business unit, which includes its portfolio of products and services to support in vitro toxicity studies.

"This BioIVT business unit has been rapidly expanding over the past year with the recent acquisition of Qualyst Transporter Solutions in September 2017," Noah told us.

BioIVT purchased the biospecimen and research service provider Asterand Bioscience and the contract research organization (CRO) TransCell Science last year.