Consequently, we utilise the same instrumentation and testing methodologies at all of our owned facilities and will gladly make available the QC studies to assure our clients of the quality and consistency of our results.

We also understand the importance of maintaining the same test methodologies throughout the course of a clinical trial or clinical development program, and we make every effort to do so.

In the rare circumstance that a supplier discontinues a test kit or reagent, preventing the continued use of a test method, our scientific and data management staff will perform the studies necessary to validate the new method and supply the correlation data necessary to normalise and integrate test result data.

The Challenge: A pharmaceutical company asked ICON Central Laboratories to support a study requiring the assay of 25,000 cytokines. The usual ELISA method for assaying cytokines would be extremely expensive. The typical solution of batch testing would adversely impact result turnaround. The sponsor asked ICON Central Laboratories if they could find an answer to their problem.

The Solution: To provide a better solution for this client, ICON Central Laboratories set up and validated the Cytometric Bead Array (CBA) testing platform on a worldwide basis. With this new method, testing could be performed as specimens were received, resulting in greater efficiency and improved turnaround times. In addition, the method offered better specificity with little to no cross-reactivity.