A new partnership provides tissue to data biomarker solutions. ‘Our expertise provides your solutions’ is the new motto being used as part of a unique and exciting partnership between three independent CROs in the life science sector.
Tissue Solutions, a leading supplier of ethically-sourced tissue and biological samples, and OracleBio, a provider of biomarker image analysis services, both based in the West of Scotland, have recently joined forces with Nottingham-based CRO Histologix to offer a unique and complementary set of services to the pharmaceutical industry. Jointly, the three companies now offer a one-stop-shop for all tissue procurement, histology / immunohistochemistry (IHC) and digital image analysis of tissue slides, allowing the accurate quantification of biomarkers from R&D, regulatory preclinical and clinical studies.
Dr Morag McFarlane, CSO of Tissue Solutions, explains the initial link between the three companies: "Tissue Solutions have established themselves as global leaders in the acquisition of ethically approved human tissue for research purposes. A large proportion of our clients come from the pharmaceutical industry and utilise our samples in their R&D programmes to measure biomarkers using histology and IHC/in-situ hybridisation (ISH) techniques. In order to provide the latter services to our clients, we have a longstanding relationship with Histologix, who specialise in histology and IHC/ISH, to allow processing and staining of tissue samples."
David Fairley, managing director of Histologix, goes on to explain: "’The complementary link between Tissue Solutions and Histologix works for all concerned as it allows our joint clients the opportunity to access and then subsequently process tissue samples using two companies with close links. At Histologix we have an impressive track record in working with pharmaceutical companies to deliver high-quality histology and IHC/ISH, and Tissue Solutions provide the type of top-quality tissue that we require as a company. Qualitative pathological review of tissue slides is a significant aspect of our business. However, clients are increasingly interested in turning histological tissue sections from both pre-clinical and clinical studies into robust, quantitative data. This is necessary, for example, when investigating the effects of therapy at the protein expression level and requires highly sophisticated image analysis software and data interpretation."
This is where the third part of the collaborative trio comes into play, in the form of OracleBio. Co-founders of OracleBio, Dr Lorcan Sherry and Dr John Waller, previously worked as biomarker specialists / pharmacologists at the MSD Pharmaceutical Research site in Scotland. OracleBio offers biomarker image analysis services aimed at improving the predictability and translatability of data read outs between pre-clinical and clinical R&D studies. Lorcan says: "Our services complement those of Histologix and Tissue Solutions where clients wish to out-source all aspects of their tissue-based biomarker work. All three companies working together mean the best possible results for our customers."
John adds: "The timing is good for us as we recently entered into an agreement with the German-based software company Definiens, to utilise their state-of-the-art Tissue Studio™ Image Analysis software as part of our service offerings to our clients. It is a particularly powerful piece of software, considered by many to be the Industry Gold Standard for performing detailed and accurate analysis of IHC/ISH stained biomarker read outs from tissue sections as part of target validation, efficacy and safety R&D studies."
Currently, all three companies are jointly marketing their services in order to provide a one-stop-shop to simplify and streamline the process between tissue acquisition and data quantification for all tissue-based biomarker requirements.
For further information please contact Tissue Solutions.