Bioneer:FARMA provides formulation testing, drug screening and bioavailability services and Professor Anette Müllertz, Head of Department, is excited about the innovative technology and its prospects.

"The DGM takes our services to a highly advanced level. In combination with our existing digestion models, we can now conduct advanced analyses along the whole gastro-intestinal tract," Anette Müllertz says.

The DGM replicates the hydrodynamic and biochemical conditions of the gut

The services now provided by Bioneer:FARMA comprise a range of different assessments fundamental to pharmaceutical formulation and drug development. Key areas of DGM application include:

• Assessment of the behavior of dosage forms in the stomach to determine the effectiveness of entero-coating, transit time, enzymatic degradation (if relevant), etc.
• Evaluation of the effect of food on the drug release performance and bio-disposition of dosage forms using standardized experimental protocols
• Assessment of dosage form integrity and potential for "burst-release"/ dose dumping under typical and extremes of gastric processing conditions
• Assessment of the gastric disposition of gastro retentive formulation using advanced meal cycle simulation to determine dosage form robustness and gastric residency
• Assessment of the in situ chemical and enzymatic stability of pro-drug APIs or those targeting local region-specific gastrointestinal delivery

Additionally, the DGM uniquely allows for an experimental set up and testing of alcohol based interactions which cannot be studied in vivo in an ethically justified manner.

The DGM services are currently performed in the UK and are available through Bioneer: FARMA.

"We are delighted to partner up with Bioneer:FARMA to take The Model Gut into an exciting new phase. The integration with Bioneer:FARMA will provide a wide array of complimentary capabilities that will both expand and enable the unique capabilities of the Model Gut’s technologies for determining the performance of ingested materials in the gastric and intestinal compartments," says Martin Stocks, PBL Business Development Manager.