Eckert & Ziegler Vitalea Science and Korea-based BioCore Bring Human Microdosing to Korea to Address the Needs of the Emergent Pharmaceutical Industry

Written by BioCore Eckert & Ziegler Vitalea Science

Davis, California and Seoul, South Korea –Eckert & Ziegler Vitalea Science (EZVS) and BioCore Co. Ltd., leading bioanalytical contract research organizations (CRO), are pleased to announce the initiation of an agreement to co-market complementary services in support of clinical drug development for the pharmaceutical industry. BioCore, the first bioanalytical CRO in Korea, has an established reputation for quality service and a customer base that extends throughout Asia. This relationship expandsBioCore’s portfolio, adding EZVS’s Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) based services to their suite of advanced offerings, and facilitates EZVS’s entry into the rapidly growing Asian pharmaceutical market.

AMS is an ultrasensitive radiocarbon detection platform that complements other tools available to the pharmaceutical scientist.   “Atom counting” sensitivity enable new avenues of clinical drug development in ways that were not previously possible.  For example, microdosing allows the behavior of any drug to be studied with almost no risk of side effects.BioCore President and CEO Hyung Sik Choie comments, “This alliance brings capabilities through the BioCore interfacewith immediate benefit to the Korean pharmaceutical community by reducing the timeline to bring new drugs to market.” These studies, while approved under FDA and ICH guidances, are not currently being performed in Korea due to the lack of bio accelerator expertise.

EZVS’s team of experts includes the founders of applied AMS methods for biological determinations and innovators of next generation BioMICADAS AMS technology.  Dr. Stephen Dueker, EZVS CSO, stated, “We are very pleased to be represented by BioCore. Alignment with the foremost CRO in Korea provides EZVS presence in Asia and strengthens our credibility as we introduce the benefits of applied AMS into new territory.”  The agreement combines the technical expertise of both companies to deliver solutions designed to streamline the drug development process and accelerate commercialization to pharmaceutical sponsors.

About BioCore

BioCore is South Korea’s largest provider of bioanalytical liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) services. BioCore was South Korea’s first GLP-compliant centralized bioanalytical CRO (2005) and first to be certified by the Korea Food and Drug Administration as a Bioequivalence Testing Institution (2008). http://www.bio-core.co.kr/

About EZVS

Eckert & Ziegler Vitalea Science is an integrated provider of isotopes and isotope measurement and calibration services with the Davis, California facility dedicated to GLP level bioanalysis.  Founded in 2003, by researchers from the University of California, EZVS is the first U.S.-based bioanalytical contract research organization dedicated to providing services for exploring the pharmacokinetics and metabolism of drug candidates directly in humans and non-clinical species using AMS, both prior to and as part of phase I clinical trials. In our Davis, CA facility, we utilize the BioMICADAS, the only AMS instrument purpose-built to address the specific needs of the pharmaceutical industry.

For further information, please contact:

Eckert & Ziegler Vitalea Science

2121 Second St.  Suite B101

Davis, CA  95618

T:  +1.530.341.0200

F:  +1.530.341.0299

www.vitaleascience.com

Media contact:

Ann Hoffman

T:  +1.530.341.0200

E:  [email protected]