Bionas GmbH, a specialist for in vitro profiling of cellular metabolic activity, announced that it has signed a service contract with Solvay Pharmaceuticals GmbH (Hannover, Germany). The contract covers the metabolic profiling of several drug candidates identified in the context of Solvay's obesity research program. Financial details were not disclosed.

Solvay has selected the Bionas® 2500 analyzing system because it allows monitoring of both acute (short-term) and chronic (long-term) effects of drug candidates in different cell types thanks to a proprietary perfusion system. Besides the long-term observation of cells under close to in vivo conditions, the observation of regeneration effects is also possible.

"The Bionas instrument is a valuable tool for compound ranking and helps us select the most promising compounds for further development," says Dr. Michael Firnges at Solvay Pharmaceuticals GmbH.

The Bionas® 2500 analyzing system is a bench-top instrument that allows the simultaneous, label-free and high-content analysis of three metabolic parameters, such as acidification, oxygen consumption and adhesion of living cells. The Bionas instrument has been also selected by Solvay Pharmaceuticals Research Laboratories (Weesp, Netherlands) for target validation studies.

About Bionas
Bionas GmbH, located in Rostock, Germany, specializes in analyzing systems and services for in vitro profiling the metabolic activity of cells to understand cellular function. Bionas® 2500 analyzing system measures extracellular acidification, oxygen consumption and cell adhesion label-free and noninvasively. It can be applied to various cell types including primary cells and tissues. The readout is performed continuously and can be monitored online. Main applications include drug profiling, lead optimization, pharmacokinetics, early toxicology programs, ADME/Tox, chemosensitivity testing, toxicological testing of chemical substances (REACH) and cell culture monitoring and optimization. For more information visit www.bionas.de.

About Solvay Pharmaceuticals
Solvay Pharmaceuticals is a research driven group of companies that constitute the global pharmaceutical business of the Solvay Group. The company seeks to fulfill carefully selected, unmet medical needs in the focus areas of neuroscience, cardio-metabolic, influenza vaccines and pancreatic enzymes. We aim for marketing excellence in gastroenterology and men's and women's health. Its 2006 sales were EUR 2.6 billion and it employs approximately 10,000 people worldwide. For more information visit www.solvaypharmaceuticals.com.