XenoBiotic Laboratories (XBL), a contract lab focused on bioanalytical and ADME, will open XBL-China this summer.

XBL-China’s new 36,000-sq.-ft. laboratory in Nanjing has a 12,000-sq.-ft. vivarium and analytical instrumentation. With additional offices in Shanghai, XBL-China will provide bioanalytical and metabolism services to the standards standards comparable to XBL’s New Jersey facility. Jinn Wu, president and chief executive officer of XBL, “The initial goal for XBL-China is to offer GLP-level bioanalytical as well as discovery PK services to support drug development programs being conducted in Asian countries. Additional services such as synthetic chemistry, formulation services, Phase I clinical trial conduct, and SFDA registration are planned for the future. This is a significant expansion for XBL and will allow us to provide services to global pharmaceutical companies.” An open house ceremony is planned for October 2009.

XBL has also boosted its U.S.-based services with the addition of a large molecule bioassay/cell-based assay group, Debra LIMS, QWBA and in-house NMR services.

“With the addition of a state-of-the-art laboratory and expertise to conduct Quantitative Whole Body Autoradiography (QWBA) studies, in-house NMR (500 MHz) and the industry standard Debra LIMS software, we now offer a complete and comprehensive package of services for ADME studies,” saidDennis Heller, XBL’s vice president of Pharmaceutical Development. “In addition, we recognized the expanding need for quantitative bioanalytical services for biologics (biotherapeutics and biomarkers) and, as a result, invested in a new biologics group that will provide ELISA-based services for quantitative PK bioanalysis for biotherapeutics, immunogenicity screening and biomarker assays. Our biologics group is also developing key cell-based assays to screen the biological activity of macromolecules.”