FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 23, 2004.

ESA has developed a new method utilising its CoulArray® electrochemical (EC) system as a tool to perform compound oxidative stability measurements in the drug discovery process.

High Throughput Compound Stability Measurement ..

ESA has developed a new method utilising its CoulArray® electrochemical (EC) system as a tool to perform compound oxidative stability measurements in the drug discovery process.

The EC system, employed as an oxidative method, closely mimics the oxidative degradation of compounds. The CoulArray® performs a wide variety of single electron oxidation reactions for predicting the oxidative stability of a compound under one or more different conditions. These assays can be conducted in a few seconds per sample.

Determining the relative stability of a compound or a formulation to oxidation is a laborious and time-consuming process involving methods such as peroxide oxidation, elevated oxygen tension, or sophisticated forced degradation studies. Because of the nature of these types of studies, they are typically not done until later in the drug development process. The CoulArray®, is designed to rapidly screen a large number of compounds for their relative stabilities and utilise this information much earlier and in several areas of pharmaceutical research. The CoulArray® is an excellent tool for high throughput measurement allowing researchers to gather important information about a compound's inherent stability and make earlier and better decisions about a compound's suitability for development. This can have a major impact on both synthetic and medicinal chemistry efforts in any pharmaceutical company.

European HQ ESA Analytical Ltd. Brook Farm Dorton, Aylesbury Bucks. HP18 9BH UK tel. +44-1844-239381 email: egoodall@esainc.com www.esainc.com