East Millstone, NJ — Envigo, a leading provider of nonclinical contract research services and research models, is investing in an expansion of its research model surgical facility at its Livermore, California site in response to increased market demand from West Coast biopharmaceutical customers. The new expanded capabilities will help create a West Coast Center of Excellence for surgical services and complement the company’s existing offering at its Indianapolis, Indiana site. The newly-expanded facility is expected to open in the second quarter of 2018.
The company will oversee a ten-fold increase in surgical capacity at its Livermore site — up from 500 to 5,000 square feet, a near doubling of surgical technicians and the installation of advanced equipment. Intensive care unit (ICU) recovery chambers and advanced ventilator and microscopic technologies — already in place at the Indianapolis site — will be installed. In addition, Envigo will fit environmentally friendly individual ventilated cages (IVCs) for all models and state-of-the-art RFID and software surgical tracking systems — providing vital monitoring of animal models from entering surgery to customer delivery.
There has been a large growth in outsourced surgical demand as pharma and biotech companies seek better access to translational surgical models, in particular in specialist areas such as myocardial infarction (MI). Growing numbers of companies, especially in the San Francisco area, are focused on developing new MI targets and pipelines.
“Our high quality myocardial infarction models perform within customer parameters in the high ninety percent range – much higher than other leading providers in the market. Consequently, we are pleased to meet a pressing need of customers and prospects based in the West Coast region, particularly given the high precision surgery required for myocardial infarction studies, through the buildout of our Livermore facility,” commented Brad Gien, Head of North America Surgery at Envigo.
In cementing its credentials in this specialist service, Envigo re-certifies all its surgeons every six months, for each specific intervention. For example, for myocardial infarction, researchers need to be able to undertake difficult procedures such as vascular catheterization and examine arterial blocks as small as the width of a hair. It is also important for animal welfare, as well as study productivity, that a provider is able to carry out these surgeries with the minimal risk of infection, maximum animal recovery and without error.
“One of the key considerations to more quickly meet our customers’ critical R&D timelines was to bring our specialist myocardial infarction models to this location, as it is so close to a key development hub for this particular product class. Accordingly, we are now able to service a much greater volume of orders given the more efficient logistics to service our customers in the region,” added Brad Gien.
About Envigo
Envigo provides mission-critical products and research services for pharmaceutical, crop protection, and chemical companies as well as universities, governments, and other research organizations. Our company is founded on the principle that research partnerships depend on unmatched expertise, unwavering dedication to customer service and shared goals. With over 3,300 employees across 50+ locations worldwide we are committed to helping customers realize the full potential of their research and products as we work together to build a healthier and safer world.
