Cambridge BioScience Appointed as European Distributor for ChanTest Inc

Cambridge BioScience has announced its appointment as the new European Distributor for ChanTest, Inc. (Cleveland, Ohio, USA).

ChanTest's primary focus is on a family of proteins known as ion channels that may be either deliberate therapeutic targets for new drug development, or unintended targets that can result in unwanted side-effects from new drugs. 

ChanTest pioneered the hERG potassium channel assay as a preclinical predictor of cardiac side effects in non-cardiac drugs, and provided the first proof that hERG was the target for adverse cardiac events linked to the non-cardiac drugs Seldane (terfenadine), Propulsid (cisapride), and Nizoral (ketoconazole). They were also the first to demonstrate that adverse cardiac events could be linked to drug-induced inhibition of hERG trafficking.

Under the terms of the Agreement, Cambridge BioScience will support ChanTest and its clients by providing technical, commercial and logistics support throughout Europe.

"ChanTest have been pioneers in the development of new technologies in the ion channel safety and screening arena for many years” said Mike Kerins, Managing Director of Cambridge BioScience.

“We are delighted to be working with them as their commercial partner in Europe. We expect to see significant growth in this market as a result of the increased uptake of predictive screening assays of this kind and as a consequence of the rapidly growing interest in ion channels as primary targets in areas such as pain and epilepsy research," Kerins continued.

"ChanTest’s scientific leadership in this field combined with their rigorous FDA-inspected GLP standards will make them an important partner for many drug development organisations throughout Europe,” Kerins said.

"We are enthused about the opportunity of providing improved service for our European customers through our relationship with Cambridge BioScience” said Bob Schultek, Vice President of Business Development for ChanTest.