Columbia Laboratories' UK Subsidiary To Launch New Development Platform At CPHI

BOSTON and NOTTINGHAM, England, Oct. 1, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Columbia Laboratories, Inc., (Nasdaq: CBRX) today announced that its subsidiary, Molecular Profiles Ltd., is set to unveil the ROADMAP to Clinical Trials platform at the annual CPhI/ICSE Worldwide event in Paris next week, which aims to support companies with the rapid development of both standard and complex drug products.

The new enabling technologies screening platform, which incorporates the company's existing formulation and analytical development modules, streamlines the development of effective and bioavailable drug products.

Supported by a dedicated in-house technical group that specializes in complex research science, enabling technologies rapid screen brings together several advanced processing capabilities including hot melt extrusion (HME), nano milling, SEDDS/SMEDDS and spray drying, which allows Molecular Profiles to investigate, evaluate and recommend a development pathway to clients that is the best option based on science.

Claire Madden-Smith, commercial director at Molecular Profiles, explains: "There are critical decisions that clients can now make at an early stage in the drug development process, which can have major, longer term consequences for their compounds.

"So the idea behind our ROADMAP to Clinical Trials platform is to provide a robust streamlined pathway to clinic. Even for challenging product development we have introduced a screening process, which can provide strong scientific evidence based on in-vitro and in-vivo data to help progress to formulation optimization in less than eight weeks.

"Ultimately, it's about rapidly assisting clients to choose a development pathway that will be the most time, cost and volume efficient route for their valuable product," added Claire.

Over the last two decades, Molecular Profiles has built a strong reputation in advanced characterisation, IP consultancy and sophisticated analytical services. Differing from many larger CROs, the company provides firms with outsourced research and development activities that enable pharmaceutical companies to accelerate formulation development and clinical trial timelines.

The announcement comes after the UK-based pharmaceutical development and manufacturing services provider made a major investment into additional equipment, as part of a wider project focusing on enabling technologies earlier this year, that facilitate processing of difficult-to-progress molecules.

Dovetailing its development capabilities, Molecular Profiles manufactures a range of finished dosage forms for clinical trials spanning solids, liquids, semi-solids and inhaled products, including potent compounds and controlled drugs, from its MHRA-licensed facility.  

For further information, images and interview opportunities with Molecular Profiles, please contact Raman Sehgal at ramarketing | [email protected] | +44 (0)7808796300 | www.ramarketingpr.com | www.twitter.com/ramarketingpr

About Columbia Laboratories

Columbia Laboratories, Inc. provides pharmaceutical development, clinical trial manufacturing, and advanced analytical and consulting services to the pharmaceutical industry.  The Company has a successful heritage in pharmaceutical research and development, particularly in women's healthcare and drug delivery.  Its most successful product to date, CRINONE^® 8% (progesterone gel), is marketed by Actavis, Inc. in the U.S. and by Merck Serono S.A. in over 60 additional countries worldwide.  For more information, please visit www.columbialabs.com.

About Molecular Profiles

Molecular Profiles Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Columbia Laboratories, Inc., is a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) that specializes in early phase pharmaceutical development. Its early phase services extend from pre-formulation and formulation development to clinical trial manufacturing, with specialist knowledge on developing challenging molecules and complex compounds.  Molecular Profiles is also renowned for its expertise and toolkit to analytically resolve some of the toughest issues during development and relating to intellectual property issues. The company's services are dedicated to pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and healthcare companies across the globe. For more information please visit www.molprofiles.co.uk

SOURCE Columbia Laboratories, Inc.