Discovery Life Sciences, the biospecimen and biomarker specialists, has acquired the Gentest business unit, part of Corning Incorporated’s life sciences business. The acquisition of Gentest complements Discovery’s recent acquisition of In Vitro ADMET Laboratories (IVAL) in December of last year and establishes Discovery as a leading provider of in vitro drug experimental systems to the pharmaceutical and life sciences industry.

The Gentest portfolio includes absorption and transport reagents, recombinant metabolic enzymes, tissue fractions, hepatocytes, other ADME toxicology products, and contracted research services. Their portfolio augments Discovery’s existing ADME and toxicology solutions that include cryopreserved hepatocytes, enterocytes, and related services developed and managed by world-renowned hepatocyte expert Dr. Albert Li, Discovery’s chief scientific officer of pharmacology and toxicology.

Discovery’s combination of these businesses strengthens its ability to provide science-based biospecimen drug and biomarker development expertise. It solidifies its position as the biospecimen market leader, as Discovery can now provide researchers access to one of the largest microsome and hepatocyte inventories in the world accompanied by associated leading-edge technologies and scientific services at scale. The result is a unique innovation engine that helps deliver actionable results to allow customers to navigate their drug development programs more efficiently and cost-effectively.

“We are excited to welcome the brilliant scientific experts and exceptional talent behind Corning’s Gentest portfolio to the Discovery team,” said Dr. Li. “Our combined decades of experience in the application of in vitro experimental approaches in the evaluation of drug metabolism, drug-drug interactions, toxicology, and pharmacology, plus our combined unparalleled technologies, allow Discovery to provide the most advanced and highest quality in vitro products and research services to the research communities and drug development laboratories.”