Drug Profiling and Lead Candidate Selection

For pharmaceutical and biotech companies, it is important to find out as early as possible which drug candidates are worth investing in for research and development. Ideally this should happen before the expensive preclinical formulation development and evaluation phases begin.

Current screening methods in early preclinical phases of drug development are based on simple in vitro assays which have weaknesses that severely restrict their ability to make predictions about how drugs will perform in vivo. Based on the research of Dr Abdul Basit, a recognised leading authority in gastroenterology, Kuecept has integrated a suite of advanced screening technologies to assess the development potential of new active pharmaceutical ingredients. The data generated can help identify compounds with the highest chance of succeeding or support later stages of development by identifying new opportunities for reformulation (Life Cycle Management).

Our typical screening services include:

• Drug kinetic and thermodynamic solubility determination in both simulated and human fluid media (gastric fluid, intestinal fluid, colonic fluid and human blood plasma)
• Drug in vivo chemical stability evaluation, including our specially designed faecal dissolution assay for poorly soluble drugs
• Drug absorption evaluation using Caco 2 monolayers
• Comprehensive drug physicochemical profiling, including pKa determination, Log P/D and solid-state analysis

Each of these main areas of drug testing consists of a number of individual analyses, which can be used like a system of building blocks to suit the needs of each project and client.