MENLO PARK, Calif., April 3, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- ForteBio(R), Inc., a life science company that develops and sells analytical tools to accelerate the development of therapeutic products, today announced the launch of the Octet(R) RED System, for label-free, real-time kinetic analysis of drug compounds. The new system brings unparalleled ease-of-use, sensitivity, throughput and affordability to the analysis of small molecules, peptides and proteins for research, development and bioprocessing. The Octet RED System will debut at the Society for Biomolecular Sciences's 14th Annual Conference and Exhibition to be held April 6-10, 2008, in St. Louis, Missouri (Booth #1112).
"In drug discovery and development, kinetic analysis of drug compounds has been limited to highly trained specialists using expensive, complex and time- consuming instrumentation," said Joseph D. Keegan, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of ForteBio. "The Octet RED System provides higher sensitivity to enable label-free detection and analysis of low molecular weight molecules that can be performed easily, quickly and inexpensively and with higher throughput, as a routine laboratory procedure by any user, including non-experts."
The degree to which a drug compound binds to a therapeutic target helps predict a drug candidate's potency and effectiveness, and is a significant component of drug discovery and lead optimization. A label-free method of analysis is increasingly preferred because it avoids label interference with the binding activities of the therapeutic target. The Octet RED System is based on ForteBio's proprietary BioLayer Interferometry (BLI) technology, in which optical biosensors measure multiple interactions in parallel, without the use of chemical labeling. The Octet RED System's high sensitivity and rapid data acquisition capabilities enable analysis of low molecular weight molecules that exhibit fast kinetics, which is critical for comprehensive kinetic characterization of drug candidates.
"Label-free interaction analysis is a growing area for advancing leads in drug discovery and research," said Dr. Keegan. "Now, by enabling pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to conduct this analysis earlier in the process, in a faster and more affordable manner, the Octet RED System will help these companies accelerate drug development by validating screening campaign hits."
About ForteBio, Inc.
ForteBio is a venture-capital funded life science company providing analytical systems to accelerate the development of therapeutics. These systems enable real-time analysis of biomolecular interactions, providing information on affinity, kinetics and concentration. Most importantly, ForteBio's analytical capabilities enable significantly easier, faster and better characterization of drug candidates, thus providing greater value in drug development applications where existing methods have limitations in throughput, performance and cost. The company is headquartered in Menlo Park, California, with a wholly owned subsidiary in Shanghai, China. For more information, please visit http://www.fortebio.com.
jconcepcion@fortebio.com
CONTACT: Joy Concepcion, Product Manager of ForteBio, Inc.,
+1-650-289-6819, jconcepcion@fortebio.com
Web site: http://www.fortebio.com/
