Cambridge, UK. (7 November 2008) Quotient Bioresearch, a leading provider of early phase drug development and sports testing services, today announces that it is investing in its development with the purchase of three Thermo Scientific LTQ Orbitrap XL mass spectrometers. This significant investment demonstrates Quotient Bioresearch’s commitment to offering the highest quality service to its customers.

The Thermo Scientific instrumentation will enable Quotient Bioresearch to offer its customers enhanced benefits in mass spectrometry and confirm its position as a leader in drug development and sports testing services. FDA guidance is increasingly driving the need to identify and quantitate key metabolites at the early stage of the drug development process. In recognition of this guidance, Quotient Bioresearch is investing in improved metabolite profiling technology, better coordination of human AME studies, through its radio synthesis group, and an enhanced metabolite identification capability. The decision to invest in three LTQ Orbitrap XL mass spectrometers is a key part of Quotient Bioresearch’s drive to develop its metabolite identification services.

Paul Cowan CEO and Chairman of the Quotient Group commented “We are very excited by the potential for the LTQ Orbitrap XL instruments to continue to develop Quotient Bioresearch’s position as a leader in metabolic sciences, an area of growing importance to the industry as it focuses on improving development efficiency.”

The LTQ Orbitrap XL offers unparalleled sensitivity and significant advancement in qualitative mass spectrometry by combining superior mass resolution with reliable high sensitivity MS/MSn performance. These capabilities support small molecule metabolite profiling and identification studies and offer a number of significant benefits such as speed, efficiency and flexibility; allowing accurate mass data on drugs and metabolites to be produced in almost half the time. In addition, the LTQ Orbitrap also offers exciting opportunities to extract metabolite information out of early toxicology and clinical research samples.

On behalf of Thermo Fisher Scientific, Steve Vaughan, UK general manager for scientific instruments commented, “We are delighted to have the opportunity to supply the three LTQ Orbitraps to Quotient Bioresearch. The reputation of both the sports testing and drug development sites of Quotient’s business are internationally renowned, and we look forward to forming a long lasting business partnership which will help them maximize the benefit of their investment with us.”