Histology Services Accelerate Drug Discovery for Biotech Firm

Challenge

A privately held biotechnology firm working in the field of immunotherapeutics needed to accelerate its drug discovery program. The growing company was struggling to obtain critical, high-quality histology slides to evaluate new antibodies for specific and non-specific tissue reactivity and toxicity. Lacking the personnel and equipment to produce sufficient numbers of slides for experimentation, the company approached Avantor Services for a solution.

Solution

Avantor Services, with a staff of certified histologists and a state-of-the-art lab in Rochester, NY— including sophisticated tissue processors, high-throughput slide stainers, precision microtomes, and cryostats—began supporting the customer. We developed specialized solutions and consistently delivered high-quality slides week after week, year after year, to accelerate discovery. Differentiated Services delivered to the customer included:

Histology

• Preparing research-quality stained and unstained slides from formalin-preserved or frozen tissues
• Delivering control tissue slides for use in antibody/biomarker screening and toxicity testing

Grossing of Tissues

• Providing dissection, gross examination, and organ weight measurement

Tissue Arrays

• Developing high-quality tissue arrays according to customer specifications

Immunohistochemistry

• Staining of paraffin/cryo-sections using VWR-supplied or customer-supplied antibodies

Result

For more than 10 years, Avantor Services has provided research-quality slides enabling customers to accelerate their research. In this case, we also succeeded in controlling costs, eliminating the need for the customer to set up their own histology lab. Such an investment by the customer would have included an approximate $50,000 for initial set-up, $75,000 annually for personnel, and $25,000 annually for required equipment maintenance. Eliminating the need for this investment has resulted in a total estimated savings of more than $1 million over 10 years.

Avantor Services product quality and delivery speed assisted the company’s advancement into their clinical drug trials. Avantor Services provided the customer with thousands of slides each year, a capability made possible by efficient high-quality tissue processing, use of state-of-the-art equipment, and employment of experienced personnel. Our Histology Services team carefully prepares tens of thousands of publication-quality slides each month, ensuring competitive pricing and rapid turnaround time to help researchers drive discovery.

With a wide range of solutions, we are certain Avantor Services Histology Services can provide you with the high-quality slides you need, when you need them, at a competitive price. Try our interactive request form at vwr.com/histology_service to get a real-time estimate.