Quotient delivers new insight into safety and efficacy of cardiovascular, diabetes and obesity drugs

Cambridgeshire, UK, 30 September 2009 - Data from Quotient Bioresearch’s new extended lipid marker screen for assessing drug safety and efficacy was presented at the Institute of Biomedical Sciences (IBMS) annual congress in Birmingham (UK) this week (28 – 30 September 2009). The range of markers included in the rapid screen extends the basic biochemistry panel currently used and provides a more comprehensive insight into the safety and efficacy of new drug compounds being evaluated for Coronary Vascular Disease (CVD), Coronary Heart Disease (CHD), diabetes and obesity.

With close to 200,000 deaths per annum in the attributed to diseases of the heart and circulatory system, they are the main cause of death in the United Kingdom. In 2006, CVD and CHD cost the UK healthcare system around £18 billion.

Triglycerides, cholesterol, LDL-Cholesterol and HDL-Cholesterol are currently measured in the clinical setting to predict Chronic Heart Disease. They are also used by pharmaceutical companies in the development of new drugs. Now, Quotient has validated a rapid screening panel which adds to this with: Apo A-1, Apo B-100, Apo C-Ill, Lp(a) (Lipoprotein a), and NEFA (Non-esterified Fatty Acids).

Quotient’s director of bioanalytical sciences, Dr Jane Roberts commented: “The expansion of the basic lipid screen gives drug developers a comprehensive insight into the performance of their new drugs. Markers such as Apo A1, B-100 and C-Ill are extremely useful pharmacodynamic biomarkers when evaluating secondary endpoint data as a metric of efficacy. Providing both safety and efficacy data in one analysis is also extremely cost effective.”