My name is Ep Oosting and I’m Technical Director of “Analytical Biochemical Laboratory” in Assen (ABL). ABL is a GLP/GCP-compliant CRO, specialized in pre-clinical and clinical bioanalytical services for the pharmaceutical industry.
ABL doesn’t have pre-clinical or clinical test facility themselves, for which we cooperate with several other service providers. What we bring to BiomarkerBay is a highly specialized GLP/GCP compliant laboratory with advanced chromatographic (LCMSMS) and immunochemistry assays for measuring endogenous compounds (biomarkers) in matrices derived from both animals and humans.
In the past, there was not much cooperation in the region of Northern Netherlands between the different CRO’s and the academic institutes. In the recent years, we have started to cooperate and work closely together, academics and commercial parties, hands-in-hands, because we have realized that with a wider network, we can extend our capabilities towards a broader package of services. I have seen this happening already for two other initiatives, in which ABL is part of. One is Angita Pharmaceuticals, the second is Integrex Research. Both brought together UMCG, RuG and CRO’s in the field of drug discovery. It took some time to build a reputation and trust, but eventually our worldwide customers from the pharma sector have started to recognize our strengths and saw the value of working with us. I believe the same applies to BiomarkerBay, which is more oriented towards biomarkers, clinics and bioanalysis. I have good experience with all stakeholders and I believe together we will be able to carry out even the most complex projects, as we have everything in house to do it.
When it comes to biomarker research in the most broadest sense, BiomarkerBay offers all the necessary knowledge, the expertise, the clinics, the biobanks, the equipment and the pre-clinical testing facilities, all in one platform. There is no place in Western Europe with so many LCMSMS systems, in a range of 20 km. This is a good example of the not yet fully discovered strengths of this region. Synergetic initiatives such as BiomarkerBay, Angita and Integrex are good advertisements for the region of the Northern Netherlands and should make people, who live and work here, proud of what we are achieving and consequently the international recognition of it. For ABL, working for BiomarkerBay is beneficial because it will help to connect with experts from academia and other CROs and can provide access to a broader range of potential customers. BiomarkerBay can boost the number of biomarker projects coming in, resulting into more work for the region and more funding.
