Avacta’s Optim® 1000 Helps De-risk Preformulation Studies

Avacta Analytical has recently undertaken preformulation studies for a new targeted secretion inhibitor (TSI) for Syntaxin Ltd, using its expertise in protein analysis and the Optim 1000 instrument to provide a high quality, bespoke biophysical characterization service.

Dr Andy Hooker, Head of CMC and Quality Management at Syntaxin, explained: “Undertaking preformulation studies requires significant resources to enable the necessary data to be obtained as quickly as possible, and presents a number of challenges. The large quantities of high quality material required to carry out these studies may be difficult to obtain and, in the early drug development stages, there is a high demand for a full range of investigations. Quite simply, the more formulations assessed, the more material is needed as the techniques are frequently destructive.”

“The Optim 1000 uses small amounts of material, significantly reducing the volume of material required and enabling large amounts of data to be acquired in a short period of time. This was a major benefit, as it eliminated the need to provide large amounts of material. As the entire study used less than 320 mg, we were able to rapidly screen a variety of different formulations at low cost. This allowed more formulations to be studied - and unsuitable formulations to be discarded - early on in the development process, de-risking the programme. Avacta offered expert scientific guidance throughout the study, and having a partner who really understood the TSI technology was invaluable.”