MDS Pharma Services

Randy Karl of MDS Pharma Services in Lincoln, Nebraska, examines a centrifuge tube containing a heparinized plasma sample prior to performing an extraction procedure using ethyl acetate. 

Stephanie Marquardt, a technician in the bioanalytical laboratory at the MDS Pharma Services laboratory in Lincoln, Nebraska, prepares open columns for the preparation of urine samples for analysis for mutagens. 

The progress made in interfacingHPLC instruments with mass spectrometry has been a significant development for laboratory analyses in the pharmaceutical industry. The low concentrations of test drugs in extracts of blood, plasmas, serums, and urine are no problem for this highly sensitive HPLC detector. In addition, the analysis is extremely fast. Lots of samples with very low concentrations of the test drugs can thus be analyzed in a very short time. At the MDS Pharma Services facility in Lincoln, Nebraska, for example, a very busy pharmaceutical laboratory houses over 20 LC-MS units, and they are all in heavy use daily. 

Ion Rathe, a technician in the LC-MS laboratory at MDS Pharma Services, checks out the thermospray interface on one of the LC-MS units in this laboratory. 

John Howe, an analyst in the laboratory of MDS Pharma Services in Lincoln, Nebraska, checks an auto-sampler tray used with an HPLC instrument in the analysis of biological samples for drugs. A given run may include a large number of sample extracts to run alongside quality controls and standards, hence the need for an auto-sampler. 

Pauline Gee Department of Predictive Biology, MDS Pharma Services, Bothell, Washington, U.S. 

The author wishes to thank the following colleagues who have contributed to the content of this chapter Rich Sukovaty, Patrick Lin, and George Scott (current and former colleagues at MDS Pharma Services) David Wells (NPS Pharmaceuticals) Surendra Bansal, Stan Kolis and David Chang (Hoffmann-La Roche). She also thanks Daniel Figeys (University of Ottawa) for critical review of the manuscript... 

A slightly modified method (MDS Pharma Services Switzerland AG, CH-8602 Wangen) was used in the development of Apidra (a synthetic short acting insulin). 

Reni Joseph MDS Pharma Services 2350 Cohen Street Montreal, Quebec H4R 2N6 Canada... 

Wayne A. Colburn MDS Pharma Services, Phoenix, Arizona... 

MDS. 2000. MDS Pharma Services. Single dose toxicity study by the oral route in the rat. Unpublished data. In Bergfeld et al. 2004. Safety assessment of aloe. Cosmetic Ingredient Review. 

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