Cambridge BioScience - Human Tissue Samples and Ion Channel Screening Services

Cambridge BioScience supports its clients in Europe in their efforts to discover safer and more effective medicines. We have an extensive network of partners through which we collect a wide range of highly characterised, ethically donated human tissue samples.

Our partnership with ChanTest Inc. means that we are able to offer the broadest range of ion channel testing services, including herg testing at GLP and non-GLP standards as well as panels of other ion channels relevant to cardiac safety testing and therapeutic areas where ion channels are targets.

HUMAN TISSUE SOURCING

We can source normal and disease specific human tissue samples from numerous collection sites worldwide. All samples have been donated with fully informed patient consent.

Our main areas of expertise are in cancer, inflammation, Alzheimer’s disease and psychiatric diseases including depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. We are also able to source normal human tissues from all anatomical sites. These can be used to determine tissue cross reactivity for therapeutic and diagnostic antibodies.

Sample formats include frozen and fixed human tissue, as well as a wide range of fluids such as serum, plasma and Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF). In addition we are able to provide derivative products which include DNA, RNA, slides and Tissue Microarrays (TMAs).

ION CHANNEL SCREENING

We are the European representatives for ChanTest Inc., the leading provider of cardiac safety and ion channel screening services. ChanTest's primary focus is on ion channels that may be either deliberate therapeutic targets or unintended targets resulting in unwanted side effects. In particular, drug-induced blockade of cardiac potassium channels may lead to impaired or delayed repolarisation, QT prolongation and torsades de pointes.

HERG POTASSIUM CHANNEL ASSAY AND BEYOND

ChanTest has pioneered the herg potassium channel assay as a preclinical predictor of delayed repolarisation and has tested more than 10,000 compounds. ChanTest has been audited for GLP compliance by over 100 companies and the FDA.

We offer a complete cardiac safety profiling service that can determine the risk of herg inhibition and QT prolongation early in the drug development process. Services include both GLP and non-GLP herg testing, a panel of other cardiac safety related ion channels, Purkinje fibre testing and a unique assay to determine the effects of drugs on the QT interval, contractility, and the duration of the monophasic action potential in ex-vivo rabbit hearts.

Beyond cardiac safety testing we can also offer screening services on a range of functional platforms, against panels of ion channel targets. These include sodium channels, calcium channels, potassium channels and TRP channels. With over 70 ion channel expressing cell lines in development we will be able to offer the world’s most complete ion channel selectivity screening service.