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TNO, a Dutch contract research organization, and Seventh Wave, an American organization for contract research and consultancy, announce that the companies have signed a letter of intent with regard to TNO's dynamic in vitro gastrointestinal models "TIM". The letter of intent proposes a collaboration in which Seventh Wave will obtain two TIM systems for commercialization in North America. The TIM systems will be used to determine the behavior of oral drug products and drug substances during passage through the gastrointestinal tract.

According to the terms stated in the letter of intent, TNO will supply its proprietary gastrointestinal models to Seventh Wave Laboratories, located in Chesterfield, Missouri. This central U.S. location, coupled with Seventh Wave's customer responsiveness, will shorten study turnaround time for customers in North America. The TIM system has been validated for use in preclinical drug development. Both parties expect the TIM systems to be installed and ready for use by customers in the first quarter of 2010. In addition to the collaboration on the current models, the partners envisage joint projects to further validate the TIM system for new applications.

Niek Snoeij, CEO of TNO Quality of life, explains the benefits of the proposed collaboration as follows: "The partnership with Seventh Wave allows us to capitalize on the strengths of the TIM system and offer extra capacity, flexibility, and faster turn-around times."

John Sagartz, President and CEO of Seventh Wave, adds: "TIM compliments our current preclinical and clinical services. With the TIM system available on site, we have another valuable tool to solve our customers' specific needs in formulation development and pharmacokinetics."
TNO gastroIntestinal Model (TIM)
By simulating accurately the human conditions in the gastrointestinal tract, the TIM system gives insight into the release, solubility, and availability for absorption of pharmaceuticals. This state-of-the-art, validated system has a much higher predictive value than regular dissolution tests. The computer-regulated model can simulate various physiologic states and helps scientists determine the bioaccessibility of active compounds and predict resultant blood concentration after single or repeated intake of various dosage forms.