SERVICES
FNDR provides services for conducting preclinical studies for various bacterial, fungal and viral pathogens. A wide range of customisable assays are available for testing either as individual studies or comprehensive discovery programs. Please contact us for more details.
TUBERCULOSIS
In vitro studies
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MIC/MBC in wild type Mtb (replicating condition)
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MIC in wild type Mtb (non-replicating condition(s) – nutrition starvation, low pH and stationary phase)
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MIC in wild type Mtb in human plasma
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MIC in wild type Mtb in combination with 1st line, 2nd line, new drugs and drugs in development
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MIC in drug resistant Mtb strains (SDR, MDR and XDR)
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Kill kinetics profile
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Cytotoxicity in THP-1 cells & Intracellular Efficacy in THP-1 Mtb infected Macrophages
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Generation of resistant mutants (Mtb)
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Biofilm Assay
Animal Efficacy Models
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Acute Model (Mice)
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Chronic Model (Mice or Guinea Pig)
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Chronic Mouse Model (Combination with 1st line drugs)
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Infected Animal PK and Drug-drug Interaction studies
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Drug resistant Mtb Chronic Mouse Model (Combination with 2nd line drugs)
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Relapse Model (Mice)
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Shortening of Treatment Duration model (Mice)
Note: The Mtb infection in animal studies is performed through inhalation.
Pharmacokinetics Studies
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Pharmacokinetics
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LC-MS Method Development (fit for research)
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Uninfected Animals (blood and tissue distribution)
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Infected Animals (blood and tissue distribution)
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Compound estimation in macrophages (Intracellular efficacy assay)
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PK-PD and drug-drug interaction studies
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Single Method for first line drugs (Isoniazid, Rifampicin, Ethambutol, Pyrazinamide) and Second line drugs (Clofazimine, Thioacetazone, Ethionamide, Moxifloxacin)
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Bioanalysis of human TB patient samples for first- and second-line drugs
NONTUBERCULOUS MYCOBACTERIA (NTM)
In vitro studies
In vitro assays are available with the following NTM reference strains:
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Mycobacterium avium
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Mycobacterium gordonae
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Mycobacterium nonchromogenes
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Mycobacterium kansasii
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Mycobacterium abscessus
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Mycobacterium fortuitum
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Mycobacterium intracellulare
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Mycobacterium smegmatis
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Mycobacterium ulcerans
Other Assays available:
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A panel of 60 Clinical isolates of drug sensitive and resistant NTMs (M avium, M abscessus, M intracellulare, M kansasii, M fortuitum)
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Biofilm assay with M avium and M abscessus
Animal Efficacy Models
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Mice models with M avium and M abscessus are under development.
BACTERIAL INFECTIONS
In vitro studies
In vitro assays are available with the following strains:
Gram positive bacteria panel
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Staphylococcus aureus
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Micrococcus luteus
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Bacillus subtilis
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Streptococcus pneumoniae
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Enterococcus faecalis
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Enterococcus faecium
Gram negative bacteria panel
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Klebsiella pneumoniae
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Acinetobacter baumanii
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Pseudomonas aeruginosa
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Enterobacter aerogenes
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Enterobacter cloacae
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Salmonella typhimurium
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Salmonella typhi
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Proteus
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Shigella
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Escherichia coli
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Proteus vulgaris
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Serratia marcescens
A diverse range of drug sensitive and drug resistant strains are available for testing. Please contact us for more details.
Animal Efficacy Models
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Neutropenic Septicemia mice model.
FUNGAL INFECTIONS
In vitro studies
In vitro assays are available with the following strains:
Fungal strains panel
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Acremonium strictum
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Actinomadura madurae
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Aspergillus fumigatus
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Aspergillus niger
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Candida albicans
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Candida auris
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Candida glabrata
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Candida tropicalis
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Cryptococcus neoformans
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Fusarium oxysporum
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Nocardia asteroids
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Rhizopus arrhizus
A diverse range of drug sensitive and drug resistant strains are available for testing. Please contact us for more details.
Animal Efficacy Models
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Systemic fungal infection model with C albicans is currently under development.
COVID-19
In vitro studies
All assays are performed with SARS-CoV-2 USA-WA1/2020 (Wuhan-like). Other SARS-CoV-2 variants available for testing are Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Kappa, Scotland, Denmark and BatPav.
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Cytopathic Effect (CPE) Assay in Vero E6 cells
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Single Concentration or IC-50 generation
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Modes available: Concomitant, Preincubation, Neutralization and Replication
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All CPE assays include the initial cytotoxicity testing
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Combination assays in Vero E6 cells
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Antiviral assay in Calu3 cells
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PRNT Assay and MNT Assay
Animal Efficacy Models
Syrian Hamster Model with Wuhan or Delta variant.
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Therapeutic or Prophylactic Treatment
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Routes of administration possible are oral, buccal, IP, SC, IM, IN and IV
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Tissue viral load estimation via TCID-50, PFU or qRT-PCR methods
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Tissue sampling: Lungs, Nasal Turbinate, other organs as required
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Nasal Swabs (virus quantification via qRT-PCR)
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Infected animal PK
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Histopathology of lungs
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Combination studies with Remdesivir, Molnupiravir or Nirmatrelvir
Vaccine Testing
Immunizations are performed in Syrian Hamsters.
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Possible routes of administration of the vaccine include oral, intranasal, intramuscular and subcutaneous.
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Long term immunization periods are possible.
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The immune response is measured through -
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Cytokines and T cell response with FACS
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Antibody titre estimation using IgG/IgM ELISA
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Neutralizing antibody estimation using PRNT Assay (Wuhan, Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Kappa, Scotland, Denmark and BatPav)
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Viral challenge with either Wuhan-like strain or the Delta variant in the standard Syrian Hamster Model.
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Tissue viral load estimation via TCID-50, PFU or qRT-PCR methods
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Tissue sampling: Lungs, Nasal Turbinate, other organs as required
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Nasal Swabs (virus quantification via qRT-PCR)
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Histopathology of lungs
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OTHER VIRUSES
In vitro studies
In vitro assays are available with the following viruses
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Human respiratory syncytial virus
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Influenza A (H1N1, H2N3, H5N1, H7N9) and Influenza B
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Dengue (DENV1, DENV2, DENV3, DENV4)
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Chikungunya
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Zika
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West Nile virus
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Japanese Encephalitis Virus
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Under development: Rabies
Assays
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Cytopathic Effect (CPE) Assay for IC-50 generation
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Viral Load Reduction Assay (VLRA)
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Plaque Reduction Neutralization Test (PRNT)
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Microneutralization Assay (MNA)
Animal Efficacy Models for Therapeutic and Vaccine Efficacy
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Influenza (H1N1) mice efficacy model
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Chikungunya model (mice)
VIRUCIDAL TESTING
Virucidal assays can be performed with the following viruses
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SARS-CoV-2 (Wuhan, Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Kappa, Scotland, Denmark and BatPav)
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Human respiratory syncytial virus
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Influenza A (H1N1, H2N3, H5N1, H7N9)
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Rotavirus A
Methods: ASTM E1052 (suspension) and ASTM E1053 (spray)