BioIVT Acquires Optivia, Adding Transporter Assay Products And Services To Its ADME-Tox Portfolio

July 9, 2018 | BioIVT today announced that it has acquired Santa Clara, CA-based Optivia and its comprehensive portfolio of transporter assays, multi-transporter models, transporter systems biology, and molecular transport research solutions.

Financial details about the transaction were not disclosed.

"BioIVT is partnering with biopharmaceutical customers not just on single projects but on their entire R&D pipeline. We continue to build and enhance our product and research service capabilities to become the partner of choice for our clients and the industry experts in specialty application areas," said BioIVT Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Gatz in a press release. "We are delighted that Optivia is joining BioIVT as we position to become the world leader in transporter sciences. Optivia will be an important addition to BioIVT's leading ADME-Toxicology model systems franchise, complementing the capabilities of our recent acquisitions of Qualyst Transporter Solutions and Ascendance Biotechnology."

Transport proteins (transporters) govern drug uptake and disposition, and hence drug concentration, in the blood and vital organs such as the liver, kidney, heart, lungs, and brain. As a result, transporter effects are evaluated early in the lead candidate selection and optimization process in drug R&D programs.

Underscoring their important role in drug safety testing, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), European Medicines Agency (EMA), and Japanese Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA) request that in vitro studies be conducted on nine specific transporters for drug-drug interaction (DDI) assessment and drug labeling.

BioIVT's portfolio now includes all of Optivia's products, including its Opti-Expression technology, Opti-Target, Opti-DDI, and Opti-ADME Transporter Services Panels, and its TransFlex Single Transporter and Multi-Transporter Assay Plates.

Optivia's staff will join BioIVT's PHASEZERO Research Services team and provide a full range of transporter services, including screening studies for lead discovery and optimization, profiling and mechanism of action studies for lead selection, and other studies to support regulatory submissions.