BioTrove and Cisbio Bioassays Enter into Distribution Agreement for RapidFire® Screening Services

BioTrove, Inc. and Cisbio Bioassays, a member of the IBA Group, today announced at the Association for Laboratory Automation (ALA) 2009 Conference in Palm Springs, CA, the signing of a co-exclusive distributor agreement enabling Cisbio to provide customers with a total screening solution for drug discovery. Under the agreement, Cisbio will offer BioTrove’s RapidFire® High-Throughput Mass Spectrometry (RF-MS) screening service as a label-free detection method for assay development and drug screening, in conjunction with its HTRF® (Homogeneous Time-Resolved Fluorescence) technology and services. RapidFire services will be performed by BioTrove at their screening facility.

“Incorporating the RapidFire system into our proven HTRF technology product line gives customers access to both mass-spectrometry and fluorescence-based assays for screening difficult drug targets,” said Glenn Knapik, General Manager, Cisbio US, Inc. “Cisbio is dedicated to being a resource for its customers by providing technical expertise in the laboratory as well as innovative services to satisfy their drug screening needs. This collaboration enables us to expand our capabilities with a more complete services offering.”

Through its sales organization covering the entire United States, Cisbio will offer BioTrove’s RapidFire mass spectrometry-based screening and analysis service as part of its HTRF drug discovery screening services portfolio. HTRF is a highly sensitive, robust technology for the detection of molecular interactions of proteins in vitro and is widely used for primary and secondary screening phases of drug development. Together, the RapidFire system and HTRF will enable researchers to investigate most standard pharmaceutical drug targets in the lead discovery phase and the approximately twenty percent of drug targets difficult to study using traditional fluorescent or radiolabel screening methods, including triglycerides, lipids, fatty acids, prostaglandins, steroids, coenzyme A derivatives, neurotransmitters, anti-fungals and anti-infectives. RapidFire provides label-free, biologically relevant data so that researchers can determine which compounds may be validated or compromised before further investigation – whether as a primary screening method for difficult targets, or secondary screening of standard drug targets.

“BioTrove is committed to supporting and facilitating our customers’ drug discovery endeavors with technology that can quickly eliminate unsuccessful compounds from the pipeline, helping to focus research efforts and resources,” said Al Luderer, Ph.D., President and CEO of BioTrove. “Cisbio’s expertise in HTRF technology and significant sales presence among biopharma clients, combined with BioTrove’s unique mass-spectrometry technology, will now provide customers access to a single, comprehensive source for drug discovery screening analysis.”