Life science analytical technologies specialist SCIEX and global CRO QPS Holdings have unveiled a new collaboration to push forward on a new workflow for routine biologics quantification.
Under the deal, Delaware-headquartered QPS Holdings will work on the SCIEX BioBA Solution for bioanalysis of biologic medicines.
This deal comes as pharma drug portfolios have changed from 10% large molecule therapies a little over a decade ago, to now nearly half of the industry's entire pipeline, according to a statement from the companies.
Framingham, MA-based SCIEX said that as organizations move increasingly toward biologics, new challenges arise for scientists characterizing and quantifying large molecules such as peptides, proteins, monoclonal antibodies, oligonucleotides, and antibody drug conjugates in complex biological matrices.
"Pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies rely on CROs for productivity and robustness in bioanalytical analysis," Farzana Azam, senior director of pharma/CRO business at SCIEX, said in a release. "The integrated BioBA solution enables scientists transitioning from traditional small molecule bioanalysis to biologics, to generate robust, reproducible and high-quality data."
This collab follows a string of acquisitions for QPS. In 2013, the CRO bought Miami Research Associates to bolster its Phase I capabilities, before that snapping up JSW, Bioserve, Xendo and Taiwan's Center of Toxicology and Preclinical Science.
The company now employs more than 1,100 people around the world, focusing on CNS studies and early-stage research.
John Kolman, executive director and head of translational medicine at QPS, added: "As a full CRO, we must meet the needs of the large pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industry in a productive manner with solutions that offer robustness and confidence. SCIEX's BioBA solution is all about simplicity, standardization and efficiency, which offers QPS a running start towards achieving that right answer faster when it comes to large molecule bioanalysis."
- see the release