TNO and Seventh Wave Laboratories (Seventh Wave) have signed a letter of intent with regard to TNO’s in-vitro gastrointestinal models TIM. The letter of intent proposes a collaboration in which Seventh Wave is expected to obtain two TIM systems for commercialisation in North America.
The company said that the TIM systems will be used to determine the behavior of oral drug products and drug substances during passage through the gastrointestinal tract.
As per the terms stated in the letter of intent, TNO will supply its proprietary gastrointestinal models to Seventh Wave.
Reportedly, the TIM system has been validated for use in preclinical drug development. Both parties expect the TIM systems to be installed and ready for use by customers in the first quarter of 2010. In addition to the collaboration on the current models, the partners envisage joint projects to further validate the TIM system for new applications.
Niek Snoeij, CEO of TNO, said: “The partnership with Seventh Wave allows us to capitalise on the strengths of the TIM system and offer extra capacity, flexibility, and faster turn-around times.”
John Sagartz, president and CEO of Seventh Wave, said: “TIM compliments our current preclinical and clinical services. With the TIM system available on site, we have another valuable tool to solve our customers’ specific needs in formulation development and pharmacokinetics.”