Scientist.com partners with ZenBio to provide researchers access to human skin tissue
Located in Research Triangle Park, ZenBio provides custom cell-based solutions to accelerate drug discovery and development.
As per the agreement with Scientist.com, the company’s human skin tissue will be available through the online marketplace to support cosmetic screening, primary skin cell assays, and skin tests, among other research services.
Matt McLoughlin, vice president of compliance at Scientist.com, told us ,“One of the things that we’ve been working on for a number of years through our compliance functionality is to improve the standards within the industry to ensure that access to human biological samples are as high as possible.
“As part of that we work with a number of organizations within the platform both academic, hospitals, and commercial companies such as ZenBio,” he said.
ZenBio also offers consulting and research services including donor-specific tissue acquisition and thickness skin testing. Through its ZenComplete offering researchers can access data about donor blood panel results, medical history, and medication history.
“We look to facilitate interactions between research organizations and service providers but most importantly we've developed our platform to drive compliance and put the donor's wishes at the forefront,” said McLoughlin.
McLoughlin said the use of human biological samples has increased as techniques and science develop, noting that access to tissue has become critically important.
Marketplace potential
Scientist.com was recently ranked second on San Diego’s business journal’s 100 Fastest Growing Companies list due to its revenue growth in the past three years.
McLoughlin cites the ability to work quickly and transparently with customers on the marketplace platform to be key. “That’s where we have a strong impact; reducing the time from target identification to the launch of the drug,” he said.
Scientist.com’s marketplace offers researchers access to a portfolio of sources and tools. It has provided such tools for major pharmaceutical companies, VWR, and the US National Institutes of Health (NIH).
“I certainly am confident we will continue to grow quicker than what we have but more importantly I’m confident that we can positively impact those drug discovery timelines so that research is available for medicines and medicines are available to patients,” said McLoughlin.
“I think that the potential of our marketplace to support scientific research is huge.”