Analytical laboratory

Equipment

• Animal husbandry
• Certified site and laboratory
• Two HPLC (Merck et Perkin Elmer)
• Oven for column
• Triple quadrupole mass spectrometer detector for HPLC (API2000, Sciex)
• Diode array detector for HPLC (Merck)
• Fluorescence detector for HPLC (Merck)
• Solid phase extraction process (SPE)
• Evaporation process until drying
• Metabolic cages
• Gamma radioactivity counting (¹²⁵I, ¹³¹I, ⁵¹Cr…)
• Atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) and induced coupled Plasma-Spectrometry (ICP-MS)
• Kinetica or Win Non Lin software

Experiments performed by the laboratory

• Test substance administration (PO, SC, IV, IP, infusion, sublingual, intranasal…)
• Collection of biological samples (sampling and sacrifice)
• Stability of test substances in vehicle
• Development, transfer and validation of analytical methods in all biological matrices according to ICH Guidelines
• Determination of test substance and metabolite concentrations in biological matrices
• Determination of radioactivity in biological matrices
• Cytochrome P450 activity measurement
• Identification and characterization of metabolites
• Metal concentration determination
• Tumor autoradiography
• Quantitative whole body autoradiography of healthy and tumor-bearing rodents (via external collaborations)
• Rodent immunoscintigraphy (gamma camera)

Aim of these experiments in drug development

• Pharmacokinetics of test substance in rodents
• Biodistribution of test substance in tissues and tumors
• Absorption of test substances
• Bioavailability of test substances
• PK/PD relationship
• Optimization of treatment schedule, administration routes and treatment doses
• Urinary and fecal excretion study
• In vitro and in vivo metabolism of test substances
• Induction and activation study of metabolism
• Determination of PK parameters