ChanTest to Highlight Most-Comprehensive Range of Ion Channel Profiling Screens and Consultation Services at 14th Annual SBS Conference, Booth 1104

ChanTest, the leading provider of ion channel testing services for drug-discovery and development applications, will feature at the SBS conference the company’s expanding line of ion channel services designed to give drug-discovery researchers the early information they need to identify the most promising compounds, and eliminate those that could be harmful – before they invest millions in the drug-development process. The 14th Annual Society for Biomolecular Sciences (SBS) Conference takes place April 6-10, 2008, at the America’s Center Convention Complex in St. Louis, Missouri. ChanTest is exhibiting in booth 1104. In addition, Barbara Wible, PhD, ChanTest’s Head of Molecular Biology, will conduct a 45-minute tutorial, entitled: Safety and Discovery Profiling with ChanTest's Ion Channel Catalog, in room 241 at 8 am on Tuesday, April 8.

“When completed early in the drug-discovery process, ChanTest’s functional ion channel screens can save considerable time, money, and other resources,“ said Dr. Arthur (Buzz) Brown, founder and CEO of ChanTest. “Our automated and manual patch clamp profiling screens provide more-accurate results than binding screens since results are generated by measuring the functional effects of drugs directly on ion channel currents. For higher-throughput screening, we use FLIPR^Tetra® to measure membrane potential and potassium flux for voltage-gated and calcium-activated potassium channels. Too often, researchers identify unacceptable safety risks late in the drug-development process – during the GLP (Good Laboratory Practices) patch-clamp studies that are required by the FDA for an IND (Investigational New Drug) submission. Using our functional screens during the discovery profiling process helps avoid this situation.”

Dr. Brown continued, “Unlike most service organizations, ChanTest has validated its cell lines for testing at each phase of the drug-discovery process. Whether customers need initial high-throughput screening of hits, high-sensitivity screens for lead identification and lead optimization, or safety testing in preparation for an IND submission – our results will correlate. We tailor each customer’s service program to meet their discovery and budgetary goals. We’re proud of the reputation we’ve built over the past 10 years – delivering fast, accurate, and reliable results on thousands of compounds to pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers worldwide. We don’t just deliver raw data – our ion channel experts tell customers what the results mean.”

ChanTest scientists were the first to prove hERG as the target for adverse cardiac events linked to non-cardiac drugs: Seldane (terfenadine), Propulsid (cisapride), and Nizoral (ketoconazole), and ChanTest pioneered the development of functional, cell-based ion channel testing as a means to predict cardiac side effects produced by non-cardiac drugs. Such testing is now a standard component of regulatory submissions prior to the approval of drugs for use in humans. ChanTest is committed to innovation, and is leading the next major advance in ion channel research and services with a $10 million program to develop the world’s most extensive library or catalog of ion channels. ChanTest’s expert electrophysiologists fully validate the ion channels for interrogation with functional, pharmacological, and biochemical assays.