Optimising costs

has launched its flagship product, Optim, a laboratory instrument that promises to dramatically cut costs during pharmaceutical research and development.

The instrument is designed to perform advanced biophysical analysis on small samples of biopharmaceuticals and other biological material. The process allows drug developers to acquire vital information about their compound's performance at an early stage and therefore help them reduce the risk of late stage failure.

Avacta believes this could result in cheaper pharmaceuticals because drug manufacturers will be able to bring their products to market quicker and with less cost.

Optim has the potential to fill a gap in the pharmaceutical research and development market. Avacta stated that its product gives drug developers the ability for the first time to gain vital information about product performance in the early stages of product development when very limited quantities of material are available.

The market size for the product could be broad, Avacta claimed, because the instrument is easy to use and its analysis can be widely understood by non-expert users. Avacta is also promising to develop follow-on products that could, when added to Optim, deliver a comprehensive ‘protein analysis workstation’ for drug developers.