Covance said that its Seattle-based genomics laboratory will collaborate with the Broad Institute to create genomic resources for an important research model. Covance’s Next-Generation sequencing capabilities will be used to profile microRNA expression in various tissue samples from this model.

This research model has proven to be valuable for understanding various human diseases (respiratory, oncology, cardiovascular, and gastrointestinal) and systems (reproduction, endocrinology, and neuroscience). The microRNA sequencing data and its analysis will be made available to the entire research community to further develop essential comparative and functional genomic tools.

The genomic and messenger RNA sequencing at the Broad Institute is funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

“Covance‘s contribution to the ongoing genome project will be a tremendous benefit to the scientific community focused on this model,” said Dr. Federica Di Palma, the group leader of the Vertebrate Genome Biology group at the Broad Institute. “Their microRNA sequencing will significantly inform gene expression and regulation in this important model organism and accelerate the development of new tools for genomic research and their application to drug development and therapeutics.”

In a separate announcement, Covance has also expanded its market-leading drug metabolism services to include drug-transporter interactions with eight human transporters. Under this expansion, Covance now offers assessment of drug-transporter interactions involving major human transporters key to drug disposition in a stably transfected, cell-based format regarded as a superior model for reliable, reproducible results.

“The addition of drug-transporter interactions to our service offering enables our clients to define the importance of transporters in their drug discovery and development programs, select the best drug candidates, and meet the latest expectations of regulatory agencies,” said Jon Denissen, Ph.D., vice president of Global Drug Metabolism.

Eight cell lines stably expressing human transporters in the Covance drug-transporter interactions service include P-glycoprotein (P-gp/MDR1), breast cancer resistant protein (BCRP), organic cation transporters 1& 2 (OCT1 & OCT2), organic anion transporter 3 (OAT3), organic anion transporting polypeptides 1B1 and 1B3 (OATP1B1 & OATP1B3), and multidrug resistance-associated protein 2 (MRP2). 

Through its wholly-owned laboratories located in the United States, Europe, and Asia, Covance offers clients access to comprehensive and integrated portfolio of drug metabolism services, including preclinical PK, in vitro metabolism, custom radiosynthesis, in vivo radio labeled ADME, metabolite identification, and PK/TK analysis.