COLUMBIA, MD -- In Vitro ADMET Laboratories LLC (IVAL), a contract research organization in Rockville and Columbia, Maryland, announced today that it has been awarded a contract from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with a maximum amount of $5.7 million for the performance of in vitro toxicity testing with its proprietary technology (U. S. patent no. 7,186,548), the Integrated Discrete Multiorgan Co-culture (IdMOC) system.
The award is for IVAL to perform one of the major objectives of the EPA ToxCast program, P#4, "ell Systems Toxicology Screening of the ToxCast Compound Library". Towards this objective, IVAL will be utilizing primary cells from human and laboratory animals in the IdMOC system to evaluate the toxicity-related effects of EPA chemicals.
The IdMOC system is a novel technology, using a "wells-in-a-well" concept, allowing the culturing of multiple cell types as physically separated, discrete cultures, but interconnected with an overlying medium. The IdMOC system models a human (using human cells) or laboratory animal (using animal cells) with multiple organs that are physically separated but interconnected by blood. The IdMOC system is an improvement of the commonly used in vitro single cell type cultures, allowing multiple organ interactions as in an intact organism. Multiple organ interactions are critical factors of chemical toxicity. An example of multiple organ interaction is the metabolism of a chemical by the liver, with the metabolites carried by blood to cause damage in distal organs (e.g. brain; heart). The IdMOC system has recently received a U. S. patent (date of patent: March 6, 2007).
"We are committed to the development and implementation of the best technologies for the evaluation of chemical effects on living organisms, especially the use of in vitro experimental systems to reduce the use of animals and to provide accurate information for human health effects. This award from the EPA demonstrates the strength of our expertise and validates our mission," said Albert P. Li, Ph. D., President and Chief Executive Officer of IVAL. "Our novel technology will help the EPA define human health effects of environmental chemicals in an accurate and cost-effective manner. We are proud to be chosen by the EPA for this important program."
The award carries a maximum amount of $5.7 million over a course of 2 to 5 years. The actual amount will depend on the volume of testing requested by the EPA.
IVAL is a leading organization for providing contract research services to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Dr. Albert P. Li, the founder of IVAL, is an internationally renowned expert and pioneer in the application of in vitro experimental systems in the evaluation of drug metabolism, drug-drug interactions, and drug toxicity. IVAL is a member of the ADMET Group, LLC, Rockville, Maryland. More information on IVAL can be found at http://www.admetgroup.com and http://www.invitroadmet.com.
Contact for Press Release: Albert P. Li, Ph. D., lialbert@invitroadmet.com.
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