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19 July 2021 | Story Lunga Luthuli | Photo Supplied
Fletcher Hiten, Chief Bioanalyst at FARMOVS, next to Aurora.

The Bioanalytical Services Division (BASD) at FARMOVS comprises a group of skilled and passionate scientists involved in the quantification of drugs, metabolites, and biomarkers in various biological matrices. One of their Analytical Science experts, Fletcher Hiten, explains what sets their team apart from the rest.

“Over the past 47 years, we have developed almost 600 validated assay methods. Most of these methods are for the analysis of ‘small’ molecules using chromatographic techniques such as LC-MS/MS, GC-MS, and HPLC, although LC-MS/MS is the technique of choice. New bioanalytical assays are continuously being development and validated in adherence to international regulatory guidelines set by the US-FDA and European Medicines Agency (EMA),” says Hiten.

“Recently, we decided to enhance our capabilities by recruiting exceptional talent. The newest member of the FARMOVS team is Aurora, a SCIEX Triple Quad™ 7500 LC-MS/MS mass analyser. Aurora is Latin for ‘dawn’: the beginning of a new era, especially one considered favourable. The SCIEX 7500 is currently marketed as the most sensitive triple quadrupole mass spectrometer available, allowing for sub-picogram/ml quantification. This means that Aurora will set FARMOVS apart from other clinical research organisations (CROs), creating an exciting and favourable landscape for clients to explore new partners in research.” 

Hiten stated: “If there was ever a time to move your next study to FARMOVS, it is now. To have Aurora on our team has many advantages, given that our clients can access unprecedented analytical sensitivity, which enables the quantification of pharmacokinetic (PK) profiles of drugs that have very low systemic absorption. These include predominantly local acting drugs, such as plasma concentrations of respiratory drugs (e.g., tiotropium and ipratropium), topically applied creams and ointments, and ophthalmology drops with ultra-sensitivity.”

“In addition, the quantification of drugs in low-volume matrices will also be exponentially enhanced, enabling the quantification of body fluids, where only a few microlitres can be collected, for example vaginal fluid, dried blood spots, cerebrospinal fluid, aqueous humour, synovial fluid, and epidermal micro-dialysis lysate – to name a few. The quantification of absorbed exogenous drugs into tissue, like vaginal biopsies and hair follicles, is also possible,” added Hiten. 

“And finally, multiple analyte analysis. In this case, the collected blood sample needs to be split into multiple aliquots for analysis, for example drug-drug interaction (DDI) studies with the Basel cocktail. The smaller sample volumes will allow more frequent sampling to be feasible and thus more accurate DDI interpretation,” Hiten explains.

“As a bio-analyst, one is seldom surprised. However, Aurora has already opened doors to new frontiers for our entire team and we cannot wait to do some more exploration,” says Hiten. 

To find out more about what Aurora and the FARMOVS team can do for your study, email business@farmovs.com

News Archive

Dr Johann Rossouw receives 2015 ATKV SA Academy Award for his work in Philosophy
2015-12-18

Description: Dr Johann Rossouw  Tags: Dr Johann Rossouw

Dr Johann Rossouw

Dr Johann Rossouw, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at the University of the Free State, was recently selected as one on the winners of the 2015 ATKV SA (Afrikaanse Taal- en Kultuurvereniging) Academy Awards. Dr Rossouw was one of only six winners that were honoured nationwide for their academic articles.

ATKV SA Academy Award

This award has immense value for Dr Rossouw, since “it’s proof that original endemic thinking is still valid today, despite the massive pressure on Afrikaans. It also undermines the parochial view that English is the only language in which thought takes place.”

The annual ATKV SA Academy Awards honours six Afrikaans articles that are published in accredited journals in a specific year. Four of the prizes are awarded for articles in the Humanities and two for articles in the Natural Sciences. The South African Academy for Science and Arts handled the selection process.

First theological-philosophical criticism on Stiegler

Dr Rossouw was honoured for two articles in the Humanities that were published on Litnet Academic. The articles deal with the theological-philosophical approaches of the first two volumes of Bernard Stiegler's influential La Technique et letemps (Technics and Time) trilogy. “Stiegler wrote the trilogy in conversation with Heidegger's Being and Time,” Dr Rossouw says. “With Heidegger claiming that the technique closes off our world, Stiegler argues that the technique helps to unlock and establish our world as a unique kind of memory in certain conditions. That is why Stiegler argues that the technique is the life lived through other means than life itself.”

The essence of Dr Rossouw's criticism against Stiegler is that he “pursues Christianity through means other than Christianity itself. To my knowledge, this is the first theological-philosophical criticism on Stiegler, and to all intents and purposes the first criticism on his work, with one or two exceptions.”

 

 

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