HIV and Retrovirus Services
Advance your anti-HIV drug development program with ImQuest Biosciences’ IND-directed antiviral services.
As a preclinical CRO, ImQuest BioSciences has extensive experience in antiviral testing service for the development of novel anti-HIV therapeutic and prevention products. With over 40 years of experience in the field of HIV virology, ImQuest has been at the forefront of therapeutic and prevention product development services for HIV.
Quantification of Anti-Viral Activity and Cellular Toxicity
- Preliminary evaluation using well-characterized laboratory strains
- Evaluation against geographically diverse strains of HIV
- Representative isolates of the HIV-1 subtypes/clades
- CCR5, CXCR4 and dual tropic CCR5/CXCR4 strains
- HIV-2 and SIV
- Evaluation in primary cells (PBMCs, monocytes/macrophages, chronically and latently infected cell lines)
- Drug-class-specific mutant strains
- Generation of custom mutants by site-directed-mutagenesis and in silico design
- Combination therapy interaction analysis
Mechanism of Action Evaluation and Biochemical Assays
Evaluation and confirmation of mechanism of action utilizing cell-based and biochemical methodologies:
- Inhibition of virus entry to include attachment, fusion and entry
- Direct virus inactivation (virucidal activity)
- Inhibition of reverse transcriptase
- Inhibition of integrase
- Inhibition of protease
Selection and Characterization of Drug Resistant Virus
Assessment of pre-existing resistant viruses in the infected patient population and against drug resistant strains.
- Assess the susceptibility of your drug against variants resistant to approved antiretroviral drugs
- Perform resistant virus selection utilizing Client compounds; cross resistance evaluation against FD-approved therapeutics
- Genotypic/Phenotypic characterization of selected resistant viruses
Sexual Transmission Prevention Evaluation
- Efficacy evaluations over a range of viral multiplicities of infection (MOIs)
- Effect of pH on antiviral activity
- Assessment of infection by cell-free and cell-associated virus
- Antiviral activity in the presence of whole semen, seminal plasma, cervicovaginal lavage fluid and mucin
- Virucidal activity evaluations
- Virus sterilization analysis (Microbicide Transmission and Sterilization Assay (MTSA))
High Titer HIV Virus Stock Production
ImQuest BioSciences provides technical services for the production of high titer and highly infectious HIV virus stocks for both laboratory and clinical strains. We can propagate, concentrate, and characterize HIV at scales ranging from milliters to liters, saving you time and avoiding the tedious steps required for HIV production. Whatever your needs, our scientists will customize the virus production process to your specifications.
Virus Production Services include:
- Production of crude virus preparations for clinical and laboratory derived HIV strains
- Concentration of virus from crude preparations utilizing Tangential Flow Filtration (TFF)
- Determination of virus concentration by qPCR and TCID50 determinations
- Preparation of inactivated virus
- Isolation of viral proteins, RNA & DNA
- Quantification of proteins and nucleic acids
Documentation of final viral titer is provided with each lot of virus produced. Infectious virus in each pool may also be quantified by TCID50. Virus can be shipped domestically and internationally, and we are certified for the shipment of Category A and Category B Infectious Substances.
Request a Scientific Consultation
We would love to hear more about your research and development needs. Contact us and we can coordinate a discussion with one of our technical directors to better understand your needs and develop a customized solution.
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Explore Additional Services
The ImQuest scientific team has extensive expertise in the development of small molecules, natural products, biologics and vaccines for the treatment and prevention of infectious disease, cancer, and inflammatory disease. Explore our additional service offerings, or reach out to schedule a consultation.
Our Mission
Our goal is to help our clients accelerate their research and development efforts leading to the successful development of new products for the prevention and treatment of human disease. We have a very specific mission; accelerate your research and development plans and provide robust data in support of your projects.