In Vitro Technologies, Inc. and SOLVO Biotechnologies Inc., Announce North American Distribution Agreement for SOLVO's In Vitro ABC Membrane Transporter Assay Products

Business Wire, Oct 24, 2005

BALTIMORE & BUDAPEST, Hungary -- In Vitro Technologies, Inc. (IVT) and SOLVO Biotechnologies Inc., announced that they have formed a strategic partnership to distribute SOLVO's leading in vitro ABC Membrane Transporter Assay Product Line in the U.S. and Canada.

IVT is a recognized leader in providing quality in vitro products and services, particularly for ADME-Tox research applications. Continuing with IVT's commitment to bring an extensive line of solutions for drug discovery and development research, IVT and SOLVO have collaborated to leverage IVT's strength in the marketplace and SOLVO's innovative Membrane Transporter products.

"We are very excited about this partnership with SOLVO and firmly believe that it will deliver additional value to pharmaceutical research customers in North America," said Dr. Paul Silber, president and CEO of IVT. "By making the products available from within the United States, we are making the purchase process efficient and cost-effective coupled with increased ability to provide technical support."

"By now, it is common knowledge among researchers that ABC transporters play a key role in the function of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), blood-CSF barrier, blood-testis barrier, intestinal epithelia (absorption), airway epithelia, liver epithelia and the kidney epithelia," explained Gabor Heltovics, SOLVO's business development director. "SOLVO's leading in vitro assay systems are designed to detect interaction of test compounds with a wide array of ABC Transporter proteins found at these vital pharmacological barriers. Our products are widely used for in vitro ADME/Tox, DMPK, oncology drug research and multi-drug resistant (MDR) modulating agent discovery. We are very excited about the opportunity to work with IVT as an ideal partner to further expand the usage of our products."

SOLVO's unique technology platform is built on the following core capabilities:

--Expression of a wide array of human ABC transporters (MDR1, MDR2/3, MRP1, MRP2, MRP3, MRP4, MRP5, MRP6, MXR, BSEP and others) and rodent (rat, mouse) transporters in various expression systems (e.g. baculovirus-based insect cell).

--Functional characterization of proteins (ATPase, transport and binding data).

--Identification of new drug targets on ABC transporters.

About In Vitro Technologies, Inc.:

IVT is a privately held corporation, recognized as a market leader in revolutionizing the drug discovery and development process through specialized in vitro products and services, with particular emphasis on ADME-Tox applications. IVT offers primary cell cultures from liver, kidney, and other organ systems along with microsomes and other subcellular fractions. Some of the key services offered include drug absorption (skin, gastrointestinal), metabolism (CYP inhibition, CYP induction), target organ toxicity, and bioanalytical services.

About SOLVO Biotechnology:

SOLVO Biotechnology is a privately held company specializing in R&D and commercialization of in vitro drug discovery assays, diagnostics and therapeutics related to Membrane Transport Proteins and Multidrug Resistance in cancer and other diseases.

SOLVO offers drug discovery products and services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology and consumer goods industries, relevant to many therapeutic areas and product categories.

SOLVO Biotechnology provides four different solutions for ABC (xenobiotic) transporter assays to be used in drug discovery:

--Membrane Preparations - to be used for ATPase Assay and Vesicular Transport Assay (direct uptake) measurements;

--Fee-For-Service Screening;

--Sublicense for the Calcein Assay;

--Custom-Made Expression and Screening Systems.