The CRO MedPharm has expanded its proteomic analysis capabilities after becoming an Olink Certified Service Provider (CSP), enabling it to offer targeted, multiplex protein biomarker analysis to pharma and biotech companies.
The certification makes MedPharm the first Olink CSP in the Carolinas and one of only three in the Southeastern US.
The company said the new capability will support clients from early-stage research through clinical development, complementing its existing disease modelling and human tissue-based research services.
MedPharm can now perform Olink proteomic analysis on multi-species samples across a range of biological matrices, including tissue, plasma, serum and tears.
The capability is intended to help sponsors investigate how therapeutic candidates affect human tissues and explore biological responses and potential mechanisms of action using human-relevant models.
Combining proteomics with human tissue models
The CRO said in its statement that adding Olink technology will allow clients to combine proteomic data with reconstructed and ex vivo human tissue models.
Integrating these approaches could provide a more comprehensive picture of therapeutic activity during drug development and help researchers generate translational insights before clinical testing.
“Becoming an Olink Certified Service Provider extends MedPharm into targeted, multiplex protein biomarker analysis for the first time,” said Dr Jon Lenn, Chief Scientific Officer at MedPharm.
“We are the only contract research organisation with Certified Service Provider status in the Carolinas and this platform lets us bring that capability to sponsors directly rather than through a third party."
This certification is also the first step in a broader plan to expand MedPharm’s capabilities as a contract research organisation, supporting clinical trial sample analysis and translational models that support clinical development.
Olink PEA technology
The Olink platform uses Proximity Extension Assay (PEA) technology, which uses dual antibody recognition of target proteins combined with a DNA-based readout.
The approach enables protein biomarkers to be measured from sample volumes as small as 1 µL, with the ability to generate both absolute and relative measurements across low- and high-abundance targets.
MedPharm said the new certification will also support its international clients while expanding its proteomics and human-relevant testing offering for pharma and biotech drug development programmes.
