About

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pION’s management team brings a formidable combination of  experience and innovation in the BioPharmaceutical analytical and instrumentation field. 

Alex Avdeef, PhD: CEO/CSO.
Dr. Avdeef has over 30 years of experience in chemical instrumentation and software development. He is an internationally known authority on solution chemistry with outstanding academic credentials and an extensive list of publications. His accomplishments in the development of instrumentation include several well-known instruments currently manufactured by leading companies in the instrument market.

Cynthia M. Berger, PhD: Treasurer, CFO.
Dr. Berger brings strong credentials in Analytical Chemistry and Business Development.  She is a key contributor to the development of pION's intruments and intellectual property. Dr. Berger also has several years of Research and Development experience, and has established new markets for pION's expanding line of instruments.  

Per Nielsen, MBA: Director of Special Projects.
Mr. Nielsen is an experienced executive and manager in the scientific instrumentation field, with special expertise in titration equipment. During a 30 year career at a well known electroanalytical instrument company, his positions ran the gamut from R&D Engineer to Vice-President of Sales & Marketing to President and General Manager.

Konstantin Tsinman, PhD: Manager, Instrumentation & Software Development.
Dr. Tsinman is a Physicist and Analytical Chemist, with over 10 years experience in developing analytical instruments used in drug development. He currently is the Project Leader for a 3 year NIH SBIR grant to develop a high-throughput instrument to measure and model blood-brain barrier permeability. Previously at pION, he was the Principal Designer of the first commercial high-throughput PAMPA (parallel artificial membrane permeability assay) instrument and high-throughput solubility analyzer. Dr. Tsinman received a MS and PhD in Physics from the Dnepropetrovsk State University in Ukraine. He has authored more than 30 scientific publications and is a co-author of 2 patents.

Elaine Rogers:  Manager, Operations and Finance.
Ms. Rogers is an accomplished financial analyst with a wealth of experience in the areas of asset and operations management. Prior to pION, Ms. Rogers recorded significant contributions as a senior analyst within large high-tech manufacturing as well as within small service organization venues. Ms. Rogers holds a BSBA in Accounting/Economics from UMASS Lowell complimented with an MBE from Southern New Hampshire University.

Determination and prediction of solubility, dissolution, permeability and human absorption is pION’s core business. We screen and analyze pharmaceutical compounds using instrumentation, software and laboratory services.

Meeting the Challenge. Typically, a large pharmaceutical company will test over 3,000,000 molecules for activity. While about 30,000 "hits" may be discovered in a year, only about 30 candidate molecules reach the development stage. Finally only 3 molecules enter the market as drugs, and rarely are these "blockbusters". More often than not, only one molecule reaches consumers.

Drugability - Getting The Job Done. Active compounds often are rejected due to poor oral absorption pharmacokinetics: while they may perform well in a test tube, in the body they just can’t reach their target sites. For example, the molecule may be just too insoluble in water, and like "brick dust" it is eliminated before it has a chance to interact. In order to reach a site of therapeutic action, a molecule has to traverse many barriers. These barriers are formed by cell membranes, composed of oily phospholipid bilayers, which block the passage of charged or hydrophilic molecules. If a molecule is highly charged, it will be highly soluble but then it will not pass these oily barriers. Other effects, such as metabolism and efflux will also limit absorption.

The Need for Better Prediction. Many candidate molecules fail because they can not cross the phospholipid bilayer to reach its intended target. Laboratory test animals usually are not used during early screening for absorption efficiency. Although epithelial cell cultures, such as Caco-2, are often used for this purpose, but the tests are costly and require a licensing fee. There are much more effective approaches, appropriate for early screening; absorption properties can be assessed by measuring the model-membrane bilayer permeability coefficient, the aqueous solubility and extent of retention by the membrane. This is often referred to as the acronym PSR (permeability-solubility-retention).

For ionizable molecules, the PSR parameters are dependent upon pH. At a given pH, the PSR parameters indicate the charge state of a drug molecule and its solubility in water and membranes, which predict in vivo absorption into the circulatory system. PSR profiles are used to prioritize molecules for further study and to reject some molecules altogether.

Solutions. pION offers a range of instruments and Biopharma analytical services that improve lead generation, optimization and selection. All our solutions include API-sparing techniques designed to measure and predict the critical physicochemical properties of target molecules.

Don't waste your money on unsophisticated detectors.  The µSOL Explorer™ is a state-of-the-art instrument

The  µSOL Explorer™ includes a license for the Command Software, and detailed instructions for performing the µSOL assay.  The µSOL Explorer™ requires general laboratory equipment, and a Molecular Devices SpectraMax® 190, SpectraMax® Plus384, SpectraMax® M5, FlexStation® 3, or Tecan Infinite® 200 readers. pION offers monthly, yearly and perpetual licensing options, depending on your budget.

µSOL Explorer includes: Explorer Command Software Explorer Universal Buffer Consumables to process 10 sample plates Set of training compounds

Information on the µSOL Explorer™ is available by creating an account.  After you log in (located at top of page next to search), the information will appear below as linked pdf files that can be viewed and downloaded.  More information is available from your local distributor or representative.