BioTrove And Schering-Plough Research Institute Expand RapidFire(TM) Lead Discovery Collaboration

Woburn, MA - BioTrove announced an expansion of its collaboration with Schering-Plough Research Institute, the research arm of Schering-Plough Corporation. As part of the ongoing relationship, BioTrove will use its proprietary RapidFire(TM) Lead Discovery service for assay development and high throughput screening on an undisclosed number of targets identified by Schering-Plough.

RapidFire Lead Discovery is a mass spectrometry-based technology that enables the high throughput screening of biochemical assays. The use of mass spectrometry allows for label-free screening of challenging and intractable drug targets using native substrates. The system can analyze assays by mass spectrometry at throughputs of four to eight seconds per sample, providing a dramatic increase in throughput over conventional liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry systems.

"With RapidFire our collaborators have been able to pursue many drug targets that were previously inaccessible due to technical or economical difficulties," said Can "Jon" Ozbal, Ph.D., Director of the RapidFire program at BioTrove. "The ability of RapidFire to perform direct mass spectrometric quantification of native substrates and products facilitates very fast assay development by eliminating the need to synthesize and validate surrogate substrates or antibodies for conventional optical assays," he added.

"We are pleased with the expansion of our ongoing relationship with Schering-Plough. The growing level of interest and novel findings from our pharmaceutical partners validates our unique position in the area of high throughput screening," said Alan Carter, Chief of Commercial Operations at BioTrove.

Financial terms and the length of the relationship were not disclosed.

SOURCE: BioTrove, Inc.