Newsletter: Q2 2011
Welcome to the second edition of our quarterly newsletter. This is part of our ongoing effort to keep in touch and provide brief updates on what's new at MicroConstants. Click here to subscribe.
Company News
MicroConstants China Achieves OECD GLP Compliance
Last week, we were notified that MicroConstants China has received an Endorsement of Compliance with the OECD Principles of Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) in the areas of analytical chemistry and pharmacokinetic studies. It was awarded by the Netherlands GLP Compliance Monitoring Programme and MicroConstants is the first test facility in China to receive this Endorsement from their inspectorate. The Beijing laboratory adopted and successfully implemented MicroConstants San Diego's quality systems in 2009, to which this accomplishment can be attributed.
This is a significant achievement for our China facility and we are very proud of their progress!
Read the press release for more details.
Scientific Poster Presentation at ASMS
Our Research Scientist, David Lewiston, will be presenting a poster at the American Society of Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) Conference next week. Preview the poster, Determination of Norgestrel and 17-Deacetylnorgestimate in Human Plasma by Methoxyamine Hydrochloride Derivatization Followed by Automated On-Line SPE with LC/MS/MS, on our website now.
Service Spotlight
Specimen Collection Kits
MicroConstants assembles and distributes protocol-specific specimen collection kits for clinical trials to ensure clean, accurate, and consistent PK collections. Kits include collection supplies, labels, and shipping materials that are:
- Customized based on the study protocol
- Available for blood, urine, fecal, and/or biomarker collections
- Assembled as individual patient kits or bulk inventory
- Provided with a customized sampling manual and shipping instructions
- Shipped worldwide
We have shipped 6,000+ kits to more than 25 different countries. Read more about our specimen collection kits.
Employee Spotlight
Bruce Babson, Research Fellow
Bruce has been answering the question "Is this in this? And if so, how much?" for more than 30 years. At MicroConstants, his focus is on lead pharmaceutical compounds and their metabolites in biological matrices; however, a few decades ago he addressed that same question for volatile organic chemicals in drinking water, pesticides residues in foods, and petroleum residues in fire debris from arson investigations. The latter work was dictated by EPA methodology, leaving very little room for creativity. The transition years ago from dictated methodology to performance-based methods of his own creation was a welcomed change for Bruce.
Bruce has had the advantage of developing bioanalytical methods since before the wide-spread commercial availability of today's sensitive and selective LC/MS/MS platforms because it required him to meet today's criteria with yesterday's less selective techniques. "Out of necessity we had to 'thread the needle', developing very selective matrix clean-up strategies, employing extractions, back-extractions, derivatizations, and the like," says Bruce. Rather than abandoning those techniques when LC/MS/MS emerged as the preferred bioanalytical approach, Bruce focused on studying and implementing ion enhancement strategies. Much of his method development today focuses on column choice and mobile phase composition designed to optimize ionization.
Bruce has been developing bioanalytical methods at MicroConstants for seven years. When he's not busy in the lab, you might find him at his grill tending to a few of his favorites like grilled corn or blackened salmon. Rumor has it that he also spends some quality time with the Karaoke microphone in his hand...
