Maccine extended a leading position in translational imaging research this week as the Singaporean contract research firm announced the opening of a dedicated non-human primate (NHP) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) centre. This features alongside advanced imaging modalities such as PET, 64-slice CT and DEXA and places Maccine at the global forefront of commercial preclinical imaging.

The new head of the imaging team at Maccine, Dr John Beaver, commented on the opening. "This is a state of the art clinical MR platform which will allow us to conduct detailed, non-invasive longitudinal research on the many disease models we offer here. An added advantage is that the Siemens 3T TIM Trio instrument we have installed is widely utilised in both clinical research and in secondary care. This is a unique opportunity to conduct real translational research."

Maccine's CEO Leigh Berryman added, "This investment represents another advance on an already globally unrivalled service offering. The primary use of the MRI will be in our discovery services but there is a growing recognition within the industry of the usefulness of the application of imaging technology to toxicological investigation (driven largely by the FDA's Critical Path Initiative) and with Maccine's GLP safety assessment capability we are well positioned to provide a cutting edge service."

The imaging team will also benefit from the formation of a functional MRI (fMRI) cynomolgus macaque colony that has been established with the support of the Maccine neurobehavioural unit and an industry partner. This will allow research programs on monkeys that are complementary to human neural hemodynamic response work, one of the fastest growing areas in behavioural neuroscience today.

Maccine is a Singapore-based preclinical contract research organisation providing innovative discovery research and quality safety assessment services to the global biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry.