Jeff received his graduate degree in Chemistry from Queens University. He focused the first decade of his career in mass spectrometry on instrumentation research and product development, designing novel scan functions for both 2D and 3D ion traps.

Hybridization LC-MS/MS Workflow to Quantify an siRNA Drug Candidate in Plasma, CSF, and Tissues

Download publication

Timely completion of necessary studies is a critical element of drug development, bringing important treatments to patients in a safe and cost-efficient way. Discover the advantages of performing clinical studies in Canada.A consideration with a measurable impact on early-phase clinical studies is the location where trials are performed; this is especially true for first-in-human (FIH) trials.

Conducting early-phase clinical research on novel compounds in Canada can provide significant advantages versus other locations.

In Issue 31 of The Altascientist, we take a deep dive into these advantages, covering:

  • Canadian CTA trials–time and cost savings
  • Regulatory review process predictability
  • Business efficiency cost savings
  • Clinical trial participants

 

 

 

LAUNCHING CLINICAL TRIAL APPLICATIONS (CTAs) IN CANADA

To initiate a clinical trial in Canada, a Clinical Trial Application (CTA) specific to the given study is submitted to Health Canada (HC) for approval, along with submission of study materials to an Ethics Review Board. The studies conducted under a Canadian CTA can be used to support an IND in the U.S., or a marketing authorization application in the EU, the UK, and any other regulatory regions, such as Asia and Brazil.

Studies in Canada are conducted in accordance with the International Conference on Harmonisation (ICH) guidelines, are of high quality and compliant with regulatory and ethical standards, and are routinely used to support drug applications by global regulatory agencies, including the U.S. FDA and European Medicines Agency (EMA).

A well-planned clinical program designed to meet all the regulatory requirements for the jurisdictions where you plan to request market authorization can be conducted cost-efficiently, safely, and in a timely manner in Canada. In fact, the majority of studies conducted at Canadian early-phase CROs are used for ex-Canadian submissions. 

ALTASCIENCES’ EXPERTISE IN CLINICAL STUDIES IN CANADA

Altasciences has a clinical pharmacology unit (CPU) in Montréal, Québec, Canada, and the expertise to ensure efficient, compliant trial conduct. In 2022, Altasciences submitted 45 innovator CTAs (30-day default review) which represents almost 30% of the total Health Canada CTA submission volume for 2021-2022. We also submitted 46 bioavailability/bioequivalence (BA/BE) CTAs, which corresponds to 25% of the total Health Canada BA/BE CTA submission volume for 2021-2022. 

In addition to designing, conducting, and reporting on clinical trials, Altasciences provides preclinical, bioanalytical, data management, and biostatistics solutions that bring additional efficiencies and savings. Altasciences’ integrated offerings in manufacturing are also a benefit, as your program is developed, analyzed, and approached holistically from the start.


Explore all issues of The Altascientist in our Resource Center. And don’t forget to subscribe to “The Altascientist: Audiobooks” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your audio content. 
 

Download publication

Scratching the Surface of Dermal Testing

.custom-column-left-text { float: left; width: 50%; padding-right: 10px; } .custom-column-right-text { float: right; width: 45%; text-align:center; } @media only screen and (max-width: 600px) { .custom-column-left-text, .custom-column-right-text, .custom-column-flc-ebook-text { float:none; width:80%; margin:0 auto; } }

Opinion | A Day to Celebrate, and a Call to Action

Dr.

Case Study―Evaluating Milling Conditions for Scaling Up a Nanosuspension Drug Product

.custom-column-left-text { float: left; width: 50%; padding-right: 10px; } .custom-column-right-text { float: right; width: 45%; text-align:center; } @media only screen and (max-width: 600px) { .custom-column-left-text, .custom-column-right-text, .custom-column-flc-ebook-text { float:none; width:80%; margin:0 auto; } }

Opioids are highly effective at relieving both acute and chronic pain. However, this benefit comes at a significant cost: they are also highly addictive.

table, tr, td { background: #ffffff !important; padding: 0px !important; }
Download publication Download Issue 30 of The Altascientist to read about liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.

The drug development landscape is constantly evolving, with science and technology advancing hand-in-hand to improve the essential steps of determining drug concentration profiles and the characterization of drug transformation products. The ultimate goal is to better understand drug distribution, metabolism, and pharmacokinetic characteristics, and to present regulatory bodies with a complete and comprehensive submission package driven by current guidelines.

To this end, liquid chromatography (LC) coupled with mass spectrometry (MS) via an atmospheric pressure ionization (API) interface is a well-established analytical approach to support each phase of drug development, from early discovery through to clinical studies.

In Issue 30 of The Altascientist, we explore the numerous benefits of incorporating a stable isotope labelled internal standard for quantitative LC-MS, and detail recent advances in MS technology, including: 
•    stable isotope labelled internal standards (SLIS) for LC-MS quantitation
•    Dried blood microsampling
•    anti-epileptic drug panel
•    COVID-19 neutralizing monoclonal antibodies
•    differential mobility spectrometry
•    bioequivalence 
•    large molecule bioanalysis
•    oligonucleotides

Also included are several case studies, which exemplify novel bioanalytical workflows that are required to meet the challenges faced in both nonclinical and clinical development, across a variety of drug classes.

 

 

What is Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry?

The mainstream adoption of the LC-MS approach for the support of drug development initiatives originated in the early 1990s, pioneered by the triple-stage quadrupole (QqQ) platform. To this day, the QqQ architecture remains the gold standard for drug quantitation in biological fluids due to the unique nature by which MS/MS is performed.

Specifically, ionized precursor ions with a targeted mass-to-charge ratio (m/z) are transmitted through the first resolving quadrupole (Q1) and axially accelerated into a collision cell (q) containing an inert gas (N2 or Ar). The resulting collision-induced fragmentation leads to the production of progeny ions whose profile represents a fingerprint unique to that of the selected precursor. Progeny ions of a specific m/z can then be transmitted from the collision cell through the third resolving quadrupole (Q3) for detection. The scan function representing precursor ion selection with subsequent collision-induced dissociation and detection of a specific progeny ion is often referred to as multiple (or selected) reaction monitoring (MRM or SRM, respectively), and is single-handedly responsible for the mainstream adoption of the QqQ platform for quantitative mass spectrometry.

Over the years, advancements in LC-MS technology have been required to meet the ever-increasing complexities of assay demands. And the ubiquitous leveraging of LC-MS may largely be attributed to the following characteristics:
•    high sensitivity with broad dynamic range and selectivity from interferences, particularly when incorporating a tandem mass spectrometric (i.e., MS/MS) approach;
•    a near-universal and thermodynamically favorable electrospray ionization process that facilitates the transport of analyte ions from the condensed state of LC into the gas phase for MS detection; and
•    the ability to support multiplexing capabilities due to rapid MS/MS scanning and chromatographic separation. 

 


Explore all issues of The Altascientist in our Resource Center. And don’t forget to subscribe to “The Altascientist: Audiobooks” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your audio content. 
 

Download publication
Subscribe to