Category: Press Release

INDIANAPOLIS and ITHACA, N.Y. – About 150 people attended the opening celebration of the Advion BioServices’ Drug Discovery & Metabolism Center of Excellence on Tuesday (June 28) at the Purdue Research Park of Indianapolis near the Indianapolis International Airport.

Advion, which provides a range of laboratory testing services and laboratory equipment to pharmaceutical developers and university researchers, invested more than $6 million to construct and equip 22,000 square feet of leased space at the Purdue Research Park in Indianapolis. The firm will do contract research for Eli Lilly and Co. and other types of bioanalytical assays in the new facility.

“There is a high demand for early-stage bioanalytical services and this new center will enable us to expand our drug discovery, metabolism and development services for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies,” said David B. Patteson, CEO and president of Advion BioSciences, the parent company of Advion BioServices. “The opportunity to open a facility in Indianapolis not only provides us with a talent pool of experienced scientists, but also aligns with our corporate goals of increasing our global footprint in this important research area.”

Headquartered in Ithaca, N.Y., Advion BioSciences operates in two divisions, Advion BioServices, which operates testing laboratories for pharmaceutical research, and Advion BioSystems, which provides laboratory systems and consumables for life science researchers. Founded in 1993, the company has sales and support offices in the United States, Europe and Japan.

“Advion is a good fit for Indianapolis and the Purdue Research Park of Indianapolis because of the strength of life sciences in the state and the park’s proven track record of providing high-tech companies with the resources to expand,” said Joe Hornett, senior vice president, treasurer and COO of the Purdue Research Foundation. “This move will bring the park’s 55,000-square-foot facility to near capacity.”

There are 14 new and expanding companies in the Purdue Research Park of Indianapolis.. The new center will employ nearly 50 research professionals.

“Indiana is outpacing the national average in economic growth in the life sciences and Advion’s decision to open a research facility in Indianapolis is a great benefit to us and for them,” said Mitch Roob, Indiana Secretary of Commerce and CEO of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation. “We have a strong and growing life sciences sector and we have qualified graduates coming out of our universities as well as experienced professionals in the life sciences to fill the positions that Advion needs.”

According to a 2010 report by the Batelle/Biotechnology Industry Organization’s “State BioScience Initiatives” report, Indiana’s biosciences job growth is 17.2 percent compared to the national average of 15.8 percent.

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Advion BioServices Inc. up to $650,000 in performance-based tax credits and up to $30,000 in training grants based on the company’s job creation plans. Develop Indy provided an additional training funding and support property tax abatement from the City of Indianapolis.

“We worked closely with the Indiana Economic Development Corporation and Advion officials to recruit this new drug discovery and metabolism center to Indianapolis,” said Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard. “The dedication of Advion’s new center is another example of a series of initiatives designed to stimulate innovation and growth in our business community.”

About Advion BioServices Inc.
Advion is a scientific leader in bioanalytical and immunoassay services. Advion offers a range of GLP-compliant and discovery support services, including bioanalytical LC/MS/MS, LC/MS biomarker analysis, immunoassay, cytochrome P450 inhibition study support, sample management, and sample storage. The company is the laboratory of choice for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in pursuit of scientific excellence. More information about Advion can be found by visiting their website, https://advion.com

About IEDC
Created by Gov. Mitch Daniels in 2005 to replace the former Department of Commerce, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation is governed by a 12-member board chaired by Daniels. Mitch Roob serves as the chief executive officer of the IEDC. For more information about IEDC, visit http://www.iedc.in.gov

Media Contacts:
Amy Boardman (Advion), 607-266-0665 ext. 331, boardmaa@advion.com
Blair West (IEDC), 317-232-8873, BWest@iedc.in.gov
Cynthia Sequin (Purdue Research Foundation), 765-588-3340, casequin@prf.org

INDIANAPOLIS and ITHACA, NY – May 23, 2011 – Advion BioServices, a subsidiary of Advion BioSciences, Inc. and a leading bioanalytical contract research organization, today announced the opening of its new 22,000 square-foot Drug Discovery and Metabolism bioanalytical laboratory. This expansion was previously announced in March 2011, in response to high demand for Metabolism, ADME screening and other early-stage bioanalytical services, as well as build upon a long-standing local partnership in the Indianapolis area.

At the new Indianapolis facility, Advion will focus on the earlier stage, drug discovery and metabolism bioanalytical services which evaluate how a potential new medicine is absorbed and metabolized in experimental models. Many of these services are data generation activities required for the preparation of a molecule’s entry into clinical testing.

Market demand for all drug discovery, metabolism and development services is high as pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies are under pressure to increase their flexibility and move to a hybrid outsourced research model. As an established bioanalytical Contract Research Organization (CRO), Advion made a strategic decision to complement its core business offering with services needed earlier in the drug development process. Barriers to entry into the drug discovery and metabolism services market are high with significant financial investments, the necessity for specific laboratory and testing equipment, and most importantly, skilled professionals. The opportunity to expand into Indianapolis provided access to a talent pool of experienced scientists aligned perfectly with Advion’s objectives.

“For our existing clients, the additional services offer a broader and more comprehensive approach to utilize early-access scientific knowledge and transfer this to later stage analysis,” comments David B. Patteson, Advion’s President and CEO. He continues, “This should allow us to offer what the clients want, when they need it, while ensuring the scientific integrity and quality are maintained at Advion’s high standards.”

Advion has a strong reputation in the industry for providing bioanalytical services based on a philosophy of scientific excellence. The new laboratory in Indianapolis follows this philosophy. Meeting the timeline for construction and transition, the established workflows from Advion’s headquarters in Ithaca, NY as well as from its client-partner, have allowed the new facility to achieve best practices.

Advion’s expansion into Indianapolis was made possible in part by assistance provided through the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC). IEDC offers a centralized resource for organizations looking to establish a presence in Indiana. Support from IEDC has streamlined many of the processes for Advion in establishing this new Indianapolis facility. Additional assistance was provided by BioCrossroads, Indiana’s initiative for investment, development and advancement of the state’s signature life sciences strengths.

Staffed with nearly 50 employees, the new Drug Discovery and Metabolism Center of Excellence is located in the Purdue Research Park of Indianapolis’ technology center at the Ameriplex Business Park near the Indianapolis International Airport. A ribbon cutting ceremony is planned for late June.

About Advion BioServices, Inc.
Advion is a scientific leader in bioanalytical LC/MS services, in vitro assays, and immunoassay services. Advion offers a range of GLP-compliant and discovery bioanalytical services including LC/MS/MS for the determination of small molecule drugs, macromolecule therapies, and biomarkers, immunoassay services, ADME screening, cytochrome P450 inhibition and induction study support, metabolism profiling, metabolite identification, sample management, and sample storage. The company is the laboratory of choice for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in pursuit of scientific excellence.
Additional information about Advion is available at www.advion.com.

For Advion BioSystems, Inc.
Amy Boardman
Manager of Corporate Marketing Communications
Advion BioSciences, Inc.
Telephone: 1.607.266.0665, ext. 331
aboardman@advion.com

Introducing LESA™ Clarity for AB SCIEX Mass Spec Systems

ITHACA, NY, USA, May 2, 2011 — Advion BioSystems, Inc. (Advion), the developer and manufacturer of the TriVersa NanoMate®, the world’s first chip-based nanoelectrospray ion source for mass spectrometry, and AB SCIEX, a global leader in life science analytical technologies, today announced the launch of the LESA™ Clarity for AB SCIEX Mass Spec Systems. The LESA Clarity is part of an on-going collaboration between Advion, AB SCIEX and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), and offers additional functionality and ease-of-use to the commercially successful Liquid Extraction Surface Analysis (LESA) sample analysis system introduced in March 2010.

LESA Clarity is well-suited for researchers developing novel drugs, new forensic tools, better biofuels, improvements in food safety and technologies to strengthen homeland security, among others. LESA Clarity offers new capabilities that increase performance and unrivalled ease-of-use for AB SCIEX mass spectrometry users. A real-time high definition camera system has been added for viewing the solvent droplet interaction with the surface, simplifying method development while enabling fine control. LESA Clarity also integrates Analyst®, an AB SCIEX software platform, and ChipSoft®, the TriVersa NanoMate software, allowing researchers to operate the system from a single computer with one sample batch queue. As a result, all data is stored in a single file.

“LESA Clarity is yet another advancement to the well-established capabilities of the TriVersa NanoMate and LESA technology. This demonstrates Advion’s commitment to scientific excellence, yielding more information and enabling higher throughput,” stated David B. Patteson, CEO of Advion. “Advion and AB SCIEX have had a joint marketing agreement since 2003 as part of Advion’s global initiative to introduce the benefits of automated nanoESI through strategic alliances. This collaboration helps both companies continue to bring the latest technologies to our combined customers.”

The TriVersa NanoMate with LESA technology operates by positioning a disposable pipette tip above a preselected location on the sample, and delivers a droplet of solvent into contact with the surface of any planar sample, thereby extracting the analytes. The analyte-rich droplet is retracted into the pipette tip and delivered to the back of the 400-nozzle ESI Chip® using Advion’s nanoESI’s long, stable spray times for deeper MS analysis. The sampling locations are built into a batch queue for subsequent automatic analysis. Complementary information to DESI, DART and MALDI is yielded.

LESA was developed at ORNL (V. Kertesz, G. J. Van Berkel, J. Mass. Spectrom., Mar. 2010) to bring the benefits of nanoelectrospray/mass spectrometry (nanoESI/MS) to surface analysis and to automate surface sampling for faster, more effective analysis. LESA provides direct mass spectrometric analysis without the need for sample preparation in a variety of sample formats including tissue and organ samples, Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) plates, MALDI plates, and other planar surfaces with extractable analytes. The direct analysis of surfaces by mass spectrometry is a growing and powerful technique. LESA Clarity is designed for exclusive use with AB SCIEX’s industry-leading mass spectrometers.

“This technology allows researchers to extract analytes from a variety of samples and infuse them at nanoflow rates to take advantage of the high sensitivity and broad compound coverage that is characteristic of this mode of ionization,” said Dr. Tom Covey, a principal research scientist with AB SCIEX. “Researchers using LESA Clarity for AB SCIEX Mass Spec Systems will now be able to incorporate the most advanced, commercial surface analysis techniques into their laboratories.”

About Advion BioSystems, Inc.
Advion is the scientific leader in microfluidic systems. The company’s scientific knowledge-base creates unique nanotechnologies delivering speed, flexibility, and exceptional data quality. Advion is the microfluidics supplier of choice for customers demanding scientific excellence, more information from complex samples, and greater throughput. More about the company can be found at www.advion.com.

For Advion BioSystems, Inc.
Amy Boardman
Manager of Corporate Marketing Communications
Advion BioSciences, Inc.
Telephone: 1.607.266.0665, ext. 331
aboardman@advion.com

About AB SCIEX
AB SCIEX is a global leader in the development of life science analytical technologies that help answer complex scientific challenges. The company provides scientific instrumentation, software and services used to discover new drugs, advance medical science and protect the food supply and the environment. AB SCIEX technology solutions combine the highest performance with the highest reliability to enable our customers to fuel scientific discovery, deliver results with confidence and improve the quality of life. The company has a more than 20-year history of innovation and market leadership as the former Applied Biosystems/MDS Analytical Technologies joint venture. For more information about AB SCIEX, go to www.absciex.com. Follow AB SCIEX on Twitter @ABSCIEX and on Facebook.

For AB SCIEX
Anthony Petrucci
Public Relations
Telephone: 508.383.7961
anthony.petrucci@absciex.com

INDIANAPOLIS and ITHACA, NY – March 1, 2011 – Advion BioServices, a subsidiary of Advion BioSciences, Inc. and a leading bioanalytical contract research organization, today announced plans to open a 22,000 square-foot drug discovery bioanalytical laboratory. The new laboratory will be located in the Purdue Research Park of Indianapolis’ technology center at the Ameriplex Business Park near the Indianapolis International Airport. Advion will hire local talent to fill scientific and administrative positions at the facility. The laboratory is expected to be fully operational by the end of May 2011.

Headquartered in Ithaca, NY, Advion BioServices’ primary focus is to provide high-quality, later stage bioanalytical drug development services as required by global regulatory agencies, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

At the new Indianapolis facility, Advion will focus on the earlier stage, drug discovery bioanalytical services which evaluate how a potential new medicine is absorbed and metabolized in experimental models. Many of these services that will be performed at the new site are data generation activities required for the preparation of a molecule’s entry into clinical testing.

Building on its existing partnership, Advion has also entered into a new, multi-year contract with Lilly to provide a variety of these services that will be conducted at the new facility. As part of the agreement, Lilly will transition its drug discovery bioanalytical capability to Advion. All Lilly employees impacted by this decision will have the opportunity to join Advion. Financial terms of the transaction are not being disclosed.

“Our company’s consistent growth and success has been the direct result of close customer partnerships,” said David B. Patteson, President and CEO of Advion BioSciences, Inc. “The establishment of this laboratory in Indianapolis further strengthens our relationship with Lilly as a key partner in bioanalytical services while positioning Advion to be one of the largest and most-respected bioanalytical service providers in North America.”

Advion’s expansion into Indianapolis was made possible in part by assistance provided through the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC). IEDC offers a centralized resource for organizations looking to establish a presence in Indiana. Support from IEDC has streamlined many of the processes for Advion in establishing this new Indianapolis facility. Additional assistance was provided by BioCrossroads, Indiana’s initiative for investment, development and advancement of the state’s signature life sciences strengths.

“Drug discovery bioanalytical services in Indianapolis are a strategic complement to the regulated drug development bioanalytical services in our Ithaca, New York, and Manassas, Virginia laboratories. Advion has always upheld the highest standards of scientific rigor and looks forward to establishing a center-of-excellence for discovery bioanalytical services in Indianapolis,” said Tom Kurz, President of Advion BioServices, Inc. “In addition to providing these services to Lilly, we are very pleased with the prospect of offering these services to our other clients, and see this as a significant opportunity to further grow this business and expand the size of our Indianapolis operation in the future.”

About Advion BioServices, Inc.
Advion is a scientific leader in bioanalytical LC/MS services, in vitro assays, and immunoassay services. Advion offers a range of GLP-compliant and discovery bioanalytical services including LC/MS/MS for the determination of small molecule drugs, macromolecule therapies, and biomarkers, immunoassay services, ADME screening, cytochrome P450 inhibition and induction study support, metabolism profiling, metabolite identification, sample management, and sample storage. The company is the laboratory of choice for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in pursuit of scientific excellence.

Additional information about Advion is available at www.advion.com.

For Advion:
Amy Boardman
Manager of Corporate Marketing Communications
Advion BioSciences, Inc.
607.266.0665 ext. 331
aboardman@advion.com

ITHACA, NY, USA – November 9, 2010 — Advion BioSystems, Inc. announced that its NanoTek Microfluidic Synthesis System was featured in two poster presentations at the annual meeting of the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM), held last month in Vienna, Austria.

The annual EANM meeting is the premier venue in Europe that brings together researchers and professionals from all areas of nuclear medicine. This year, two NanoTek users presented their work, and highlighted the benefits of using a microfluidic synthesis system for radiolabeling. Johanna Ungersboeck from the Medical University of Vienna, presented a direct comparison between the NanoTek system and a conventional radiosynthesis module. The NanoTek delivered 79% radiochemical yield compared to only 33% with the conventional system. In the conclusion the researchers noted, “We have shown that significantly higher radiochemical yields can be achieved when applying microfluidic chemistry in the preparation of [18F]FE@SUPPY.”

Bram Maas from the University Medical Center Groningen, the Netherlands presented results of a synthesis for F-18 FAZA, an exciting new tracer for in-vivo measurement of hypoxia, utilizing the NanoTek. Mr. Maas concluded, “Online optimization of the radiosynthesis using several parameters was a great advance to create rapid insight of the fluorination step and can rapidly be translated to production scale.”

Positron emission tomography (PET), which uses specific biomarkers labeled with small amounts of radioactivity, is a powerful technique used in both clinical diagnostic medicine and in advanced medical research and pharmaceutical development. The core technology of the NanoTek system, microfluidic flow chemistry, has proven to be an attractive alternative to conventional vial-based chemistry for the labeling of these biomarkers. The technique offered by the NanoTek provides many advantages such as reduced reaction times and higher radiochemical yields as demonstrated by its users.

About Advion BioSystems, Inc.
Advion is the scientific leader in microfluidic systems. The company’s scientific knowledge base creates unique nanotechnologies delivering speed, flexibility, and exceptional data quality. Advion is the microfluidics supplier of choice for customers demanding scientific excellence, more information from complex samples, and greater throughput. More about the company can be found at www.advion.com.

ITHACA, NY – October 20, 2010 — Advion BioServices announces the addition of clopidogrel, plus its active metabolite and its inactive carboxylic acid metabolite, to its list of validated LC/MS methods. The addition was made this month due to market demand for this bioanalytical method which few CROs offer. Clopidogrel, commonly known as Plavix, is used to prevent blood clots that can lead to heart attacks and strokes. According to the Mayo Clinic, heart disease is the number one killer of men and women worldwide, and the primary form of treatment is a prescribed oral medicine such as clopidogrel. When a drug is commonly prescribed and often co-administered, it is important for pharmaceutical companies and doctors to understand how the drugs will interact with other classes of drugs by conducting crossover comparison studies. This is especially important for drugs such as clopidogrel, where the active form of the drug is generated by cytochrome P450-mediated biotransformation. Advion is one of a few contract research organizations in the world offering bioanalytical assays specific for clopidogrel to support these studies.

A full list of Advion’s validated LC/MS and immunoassay methods to support drug-drug interactions or comparative studies is available on its website.

About Advion BioServices, Inc.
Advion is a scientific leader in bioanalytical and immunoassay services. Advion offers a range of GLP-compliant and discovery support services including bioanalytical LC/MS/MS, LC/MS biomarker analysis, immunoassay, dose formulation analysis, P450 inhibition study support, sample management, and sample storage. The company is the laboratory of choice for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in pursuit of scientific excellence.

More information about the company can be found on its website www.advion.com.

For Advion:
Amy Boardman
Manager of Corporate Marketing Communications
1.607.266.0665
aboardman@advion.com

ITHACA, NY, October 20 – Advion BioSystems, Inc., the developer and manufacturer of the TriVersa NanoMate®, the world’s first chip-based nanoelectrospray ion source for mass spectrometry, announces the unveiling of LESA Points software, a planned user enhancement to the system. LESA offers direct surface analysis without the need for sample preparation from TLC plates, tissue slices, MALDI plates, dried blood spots and any other planar surface with extractable analytes. Benefits of the system include more information from complex samples, time-savings, and increased sensitivity. LESA is a recent addition to the capability of Advion’s flexible TriVersa NanoMate platform, an automated ion source allowing researchers to load their samples and automatically deliver them to a mass spectrometer for analysis.

User benefits of the LESA Points product release include allowing the user to scan the sample and select specific surface assay point(s) of analysis on the computer screen. The sampling locations are built into a batch file for subsequent automatic analysis. LESA Points automates the complete operation, offering increased accuracy and resolution with greatly increased ease of use for simple, direct surface analysis.

The update is available now free-of-charge to existing customers, and will be bundled in all new purchases. Contact Advion’s service and support group for information about obtaining the update.

About Advion BioSystems, Inc.
Advion is the scientific leader in microfluidic systems. The company’s scientific knowledge base creates unique nanotechnologies delivering speed, flexibility, and exceptional data quality. Advion is the microfluidics supplier of choice for customers demanding scientific excellence, more information from complex samples, and greater throughput. More about the company can be found at www.advion.com.

Earlier this year, Advion announced a new capability for its TriVersa NanoMate® – Liquid Extraction Surface Analysis (LESA™). LESA™ was developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (V. Kertesz, G.J. Van Berkel, J. Mass Spectrom, Mar 2010) to bring the benefits of nanoESI/MS to surface analysis and to automate surface sampling for faster, more effective analyses.

On September 16th, Advion hosted a webinar presented by Dr. Tom Covey, a principal research scientist with AB SCIEX, to more fully explain the new LESA capabilities and benefits. Although Dr. Covey focused his presentation on small molecule applications, LESA is also ideal for proteomic and lipid research. Advion’s chief scientific officer, Jack Henion, moderated the event and fielded many engaging participant questions.

The TriVersa NanoMate with LESA begins by aspirating solvent from a reservoir within the instrument into a pipette tip. The robot then positions the pipette tip above a preselected location on the sample and brings a droplet of the solvent into contact with the surface of the sample, thereby extracting the analytes. The analyte-rich droplet is retracted into the pipette tip and delivered to the back of the ESI Chip for nanoESI/MS analysis.

The tissue analysis technique saves time because it eliminates sample homogenization and result averaging. A researcher can sample directly from the tissue slices, enabling spatial information by sampling from multiple spots within the body or individual organ, and nanoESI’s long, stable spray times allow for deeper MS analysis. Complementary information to DESI, DART and MALDI is also yielded.

With the addition of LESA to the TriVersa NanoMate’s existing capabilities – automated nanoelectrospray and LC/MS fraction collection – researchers have more opportunities to investigate their samples and gain insight from more information.

The LESA capability is available as an upgrade to all previously installed TriVersa NanoMates as well as an option on new purchases, and is compatible with the majority of mass spectrometers.

View the recorded webinar and full presentation.

About Advion BioSystems, Inc.
Advion is the scientific leader in microfluidic systems. The company’s scientific knowledge base creates unique nanotechnologies delivering speed, flexibility, and exceptional data quality. Advion is the microfluidics supplier of choice for customers demanding scientific excellence, more information from complex samples, and greater throughput. More about the company can be found at www.advion.com.