Business Weekly - Cambridge, UK

Company chairman Dr Mark Treherne, formerly chairman of ERBI, said Cambridge was chosen because the business wanted to be at the centre of Europe’s largest bio-pharma cluster, as well as being in close proximity to London and Oxford.

“Having fast and easy access to mainland Europe via Stansted was also a major consideration,” he said.

The company is listed on the main Australian market and headquartered in Perth.

Originally spun-out of the University of Warwick, it retains a subsidiary in the Midlands.

NeuroSolutions offers both automated and manual patch clamp assays, so that tests can be configured to meet the individual needs of every customer.

Screening drugs for hERG activity is a crucial step in the process of discovering new medicines. Pharmaceutical and biotech companies are required to undertake a barrage of tests to evaluate any potential risks associated with their drugs.

hERG testing was incorporated into the ICH guidelines for new pharmaceuticals for human use after a number of important drugs were withdrawn from the US market following reports of heart malfunctions in patients who had been prescribed them.

NeuroSolutions hERG testing expert Dr Edward Stevens, said the main factors underpinning successful hERG screening were the quality of the data generated and the interpretation of the test results.

NeuroSolutions has developed core competencies in both these areas.

Dr Stevens said: “For example, we have developed and optimised hERG screening assays and protocols which produce the exceptionally high quality data required for accurate screening of compounds for potential hERG interactions.

“Moreover, our proprietary test systems reduce the rate of ‘false positives,’ which lowers the risk of a drug company wrongly eliminating potentially successful compounds.”

Choosing the right equipment is also critical, especially for running automated patch clamp assays. NeuroSolutions opted for Sophion’s QPatch system with 16 independent channels.

This system has been specifically designed to overcome the problems associated with screening ‘sticky compounds’ which are known to produce ‘false negatives’ resulting in the passing of drugs that are subsequently failed because of hERG activity.

Dr Treherne added: “Our goal is to help global pharma and biotech companies make timely and reliable Go/No Go decisions on the further discovery of new drugs based on hERG activity.

“We believe our new lab in Cambridge will enable us to achieve that goal.”