It has become clear to many within our industry that the worldwide shortage of labor and supplies has finally significantly impacted our scientific community. One of the ways we’ve seen this creep in has been by way of the availability of test systems, which has drastically changed within the recent few months. While there are a number of ways to address these issues, Attentive – as usual – takes a unique approach to these considerations so as to benefit the needs of our clients. We take the perspective of having an experienced scientist, looking to find the most viable alternatives that will still produce the results our clients need for their research programs.

The selection of the test system is really based on several important considerations, which have to be decided upon early in the drug discovery process. Those considerations can vary (from scientific and ethical reasons, to more practical and business-related reasons) in order to address the target, meaning a specific disease indication for which a biotech or pharmaceutical organization or company may be going after.

It is so important for our clients that there are choices right now in terms of the test systems and the assay decisions they have to make. These testing and pharmacologically relevant test system alternatives have to be based on strong scientific, ethical considerations, and in any situation where there may be a shortage or lack of a particular test system (or set of test systems), the alternatives need to be reassessed prior to making the decision on which one to use.

Because of a business environment that has been complicated by lack of suppliers and general supply chain issues, it is more important now than ever to make a series of appropriate choices for your projects early in the planning phase. Because of our versatility in handling multiple test systems and our historical customized approach toward our clients’ needs, Attentive is better positioned to help make these decisions than virtually anyone else.

With the recent closure of one of the major vendors in our space, near-term availability of a test system came to a screeching halt. Attentive continues to dip into its reserves and to put in place strategies to alleviate future needs of our clients. To those study sponsors that have been severely impacted, we feel your pain and would love to work with you in considering alternative test systems. Our recent facility expansion allows us to increase the types of test systems that we can accommodate. Even prior to the industry experiencing these recent complications, Attentive established a history of helping our clients through alternative decision making in both test systems, and the methods and processes that would help them best accomplish their custom goals.

We've had clients recently come to us assuming they needed to conduct a study using a test subject species that we found was not as available as it has been in the past. Using our expertise, we discussed alternatives with them. Our approach is simple……first, we try to understand “What is the objective?” We determine what’s being assessed – the type of test substance being administered and its indication – in order to find out whether it is toxic or not, to assess toxicity, and establish a maximum tolerated dose. If that's the case, we need to determine “What are the target receptors for the compound?” In other words… “Are they available in the alternative test system?” If they are, then there is no real reason not to use that test system. And of course, upon execution of the study, Attentive makes sure that the end points are accurate for the objective of the study. In the end, our clients were able to quickly turn around data and results for their project that we are confident they couldn't have received anywhere else right now.

If you are facing issues with longer than expected lead times, or outright being turned away because of the lack of test systems availability to begin your project, contact Attentive today. Our unique custom approach to each clients’ needs has created a mindset here that makes it much easier for us to adapt to issues as they arise. Contact Us