Bio-Images Research focuses in on Philips deal

A CONTRACT research firm based at Glasgow Royal Infirmary yesterday unveiled a deal with electronics giant Philips to help speed up drug development.

Bio-Images Research announced the deal with Medimetrics, the Dutch group’s bio-tech subsidiary, at the annual meeting of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists in Washington DC.

Medimetrics has developed a capsule that passes through a patient’s gut, releasing medicine when instructed to by an electronic signal.

Bio-Images Research will use its technology to measure how the patient reacts to the drugs.

The firms said that the combination of their technologies would speed up the drug development process by allowing pharmaceutical companies to eliminate drug candidates that aren’t working and to focus on the ones that do work.

Howard Stevens, chairman of Bio-Images Research, said: “We are looking forward to bringing our scintigraphy and clinical research expertise to this exciting partnership to provide clients with an outstanding drug development tool.”

Olaf Weiner, chief executive at Medimetrics, added: “The partnership with Bio-Images allows us to offer broader service packages to our pharma customers.”

Bio-Images Research was founded in 2000 by Stevens, who was professor of drug delivery at Strathclyde University between 1998 and 2009.