Alturas Analytics Quoted in Drug Discovery & Development (Web Link)

Alturas Analytics Teams Up with AB SCIEX and Eksigent to Accelerate Use of Dried Blood Spot Analysis for Drug Discovery and Development (PDF 35kb)

Idaho Business Review unveils 2010 Idaho Women of the Year honorees

Pharming the Palouse - Moscow company carves out a profitable niche doing specialized testing for pharmaceutical industry

By Elaine Williams of the Tribune

February 14, 2010

MOSCOW - Alturas Analytics won its first customers as a business of last resort in the pharmaceutical testing industry.

Two of its founders, Shane Needham and Robin Woods, had been crisscrossing the country calling on potential clients, only to encounter skepticism about an untested business in Idaho with a single instrument. It wasn't until two would-be customers found themselves with problems no one else could solve that they hired the Moscow company, simply because they had nowhere else to go.

That was 10 years ago. The company now has 23 employees, including the founders. The business has averaged 25 percent to 35 percent growth in profit the last eight years. "You can't beat that on Wall Street," Needham said.

Its success also got Woods a mention in Gov. C. L. (Butch) Otter's State of the State address, in which he talked about great people in large and small businesses making real differences all over Idaho.

The drugs it has tested have improved treatments for disease such as cancer, asthma, diabetes and more recently Mersa, a bacteria that's resistant to traditional antibiotics. It's also helped the military develop anti-chemical warfare agents soldiers can inject as antidotes if they're gassed.

Alturas Analytics' two clients unintentionally helped create a niche - taking the tough cases no one wants. Once the company met their needs, those companies served as references and the workload started to grow.

Woods and Needham also recognized the importance of speed and customer service. Usually more than one company is researching a cure for an ailment and the first to make it to the market has significantly higher profits. Alturas Analytics works in a specialized area of drug testing, measuring the amount of medicine in samples of blood, urine and tissue. Drug companies do this work too, but sometimes don't have enough capacity or expertise in-house.

Each drug that's researched requires Alturas Analytics to develop a new test. Doing so is becoming increasingly complicated as drugmakers introduce remedies that work at lower levels or change more than once after they enter the body. They use equipment so accurate it could measure the concentration of salt if there was a single grain in an Olympic-sized swimming pool.

Once a test is created, Alturas Analytics also has to be sure it meets the standards of the federal Food and Drug Administration for consistently providing accurate results.

Drug companies seek out Alturas Analytics at various stages in the process. Sometimes the Moscow company tests brain or heart tissue from rats and other animals to give scientists a sense of whether a particular avenue is promising. Other times, they test human tissue samples for drugs much closer to market.

Not everyone can conduct such research. Needham founded Alturas Analytics with Woods after a stint at Pfizer, where he worked on the second mass spectrometer ever sold by the supplier, which Alturas Analytics uses for its measuring devices. He has a doctorate in analytical chemistry. Woods has a bachelor's degree in genetics and was surrounded by analytical chemistry through her work at Anatek Labs, another company she helped found that tests drinking water.

They recruit new hires from graduates of the University of Idaho and Washington State University, picking those who want to stay on the Palouse.

Just as important, they say, is their background in customer service.

Woods learned it when she worked at Pullman's Taco Time in college and Needham saw the need during his stint at Pfizer. The companies with whom Pfizer worked do the same kind of work as Alturas, but didn't typically communicate with their clients, Needham said.

As carefully as Woods and Needham have positioned Alturas Analytics, the company hasn't been entirely free from the current economic downturn. In 2009, the percentage of profit growth was in the single digits for the first time since it was founded, though it was still a record year in profits.

More than one trend is responsible for the reduction in growth, they said. Drug companies have been focusing on remedies that are closer to being ready to sell. Plus, some of the early-stage development on drugs less regulated by the FDA is going to Third World countries.

Still, Woods and Needham believe there will be a continuing demand for their company's services, since drugs will always be needed to treat disease.

Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.

Kineta, Inc. Announces Strategic Alliance with Alturas Analytics, Inc.

Deal Advances Kineta’s Lead Autoimmune Drug Development Program

SEATTLE, WA, July 28, 2009, – Kineta, Inc. Seattle today announced completion of an agreement with Alturas Analytics, Inc. of Moscow, Idaho in which Alturas will provide bioanalytical method development to advance Kineta’s lead autoimmune program. Exact terms were not disclosed.

“The Kineta scientific team looks forward to working with the highly capable team at Alturas Analytics, Inc.. The important work we begin together is essential to moving our autoimmune program toward our IND (investigational new drug) filing with the Food and Drug Administration and the start of phase 1 clinical trials,” said Shawn P. Iadonato, Ph.D, Chief Scientific Officer of Kineta, Inc.

The creatively-structured deal supports Kineta’s innovative biotech business model, which is geared to rapidly advance programs and maintain careful cost controls.

“All of us at Alturas Analytics are very pleased to begin working with Kineta on this important scientific project. We look forward to assisting them in their effort to develop new therapeutic drugs. We are impressed by their business model with its emphasis on smart alliances,” said Shane R. Needham, Ph.D., Laboratory Director and Co-founder of Alturas Analytics, Inc. Alturas Analytics is a bioanalytical research laboratory specializing in liquid chromatography - tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS).

Kineta is developing an array of novel compounds that include potent and highly specific Kv1.3 potassium channel blockers derived from the venom of the Caribbean sea anemone. They are designed to suppress activation of effector memory T cells which are important mediators of inflammation and tissue damage in MS, rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes and other autoimmune diseases. The compounds have been shown to significantly reverse disease in animal models of multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis, and also have potential against a number of other autoimmune diseases controlled by effector memory T cells.

For more information on today’s announcement or to schedule interviews contact Meg O’Conor moconor@kinetabio.com 206-251- 8638

#####

Kineta, Inc. is a Seattle-based privately held biotechnology company specializing in the development of drugs that modulate and enhance the human immune system. Our world class scientists are pioneers, developing life-changing classes of drugs that harness the power of the immune system to fight disease. Kineta seeks to improve the lives of millions of people suffering from autoimmune and viral diseases. Our progressive business model focuses on targeting unmet medical needs and on rapid achievement of important clinical milestones. Through careful management of capital, Kineta aims at a strong return for investors. For more information on Kineta Inc. visit our website, www.Kinetabio.com This press release contains forward-looking statements, including without limitation, all statements related to plans, future events and financial performance. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to vary materially from those expressed in or indicated by the forward-looking statements. The companies’ actual results and timing of events could differ materially, including efficacy and demand for our products, our ability to manage our costs, competition from other drug development companies, and our ability to recruit and maintain senior management and other key personnel. The companies’ stakeholders are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect only an analysis and speak only as of the date of this press release. The companies undertake no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof.

We are proud to announce that Robin Woods, president of Alturas Analytics, has been named to the recently assembled Innovation Council in Idaho. The council is being convened to advise the Idaho Department of Commerce, other state agencies, and universities on ways to maintain and develop the growing innovation industry in Idaho. The council’s main initiatives are technology transfer and commercializing Idaho-born innovations. As head of a bioanalytical laboratory that is unlike any other in Idaho or the northwest, we know Robin will do a wonderful job!

Palouse Knowledge Corridor

Robin woods jokes that the biggest misconception many have when they hear about her company’s drug-testing service is that they’re checking for illegal drugs by having people pee into a cup.

In reality, Alturas Analytics provides sample analyses for the biotech and pharmaceutical industries.

“When there is a new drug, everything is proprietary, so there’s no written method for testing. Our expertise is in coming up with the method to test for the drug at really low levels,” says Woods, who founded the company in 2000 with partners Mike Pearson and Shane Needham.

As larger pharmaceutical companies have started to outsource some of their lab testing, Alturas Analytics has expanded to fill the niche market. They’ve worked with four of the top five pharmaceutical companies in the world, but they’re even more enthusiastic about having achieved that success on their own terms.

Operating the business without angel investors or venture capital, they’ve had to grow the lab and acquire new equipment as the budget allowed. “If we were funded from the outside, then somebody else would be holding the purse strings and you have answer to them,” Woods says.

Pharmaceutical companies in San Francisco, San Diego and Seattle have tried to lure Alturas Analytics away from its hometown base in Moscow, but Woods says nothing beats the small-town lifestyle of the area.

“For some people, quality of life is being able to run down to Nordstrom after work. Our quality of life is being able to ride our bikes to work and leave our houses unlocked without worrying about them getting broken into, and having this be a great place to raise kids.”

Almost everyone who works in lab graduated from Washington State University or the University of Idaho. “There are other universities that specialize in more of the pharmaceutical backgrounds, but WSU and UI offer Ph.D. in chemistry, and the people really have the willingness to learn and to do the work,” Robin says. “We hire for personality and train for skill.”

Global shipping services, Internet connectivity and high-speed data transfers have evened the global playing field. Sometimes, though, it can be challenging to convince outsiders that business can prosper in a rural environment. Woods good-naturedly explains that they name their 10,000-square-foot, $1.5 million facility Alturas Technology Park just to make a more lasting impression.

“There‘s no way we could have done this outside the Palouse Knowledge Corridor. Our banker is very involved with the community, and she even helped us apply for a USDA grant to get the business off the ground. When you have a local person who wants to grow the local community, they’re going to bend over backwards to keep you around.”

Alturas Analytics takes pride in its standard of customer service. When clients call, they speak directly to one of the scientists, rather than being shuffled around by a receptionist. Woods even credits a neighborhood source – Nancy Swanger, former manager of a local Taco Time restaurant who now teaches in the WSU Hospitality and Tourism Program – as being her mentor in customer relations.

At the core of Alturas Analytics’ success is the group’s scientific expertise and ingenuity. “A couple of the early projects that we took on were really tough ones that had been pulled from other labs because they couldn’t do them,” Woods says.

“We’re pretty competitive with pricing, but where we really excel is in our fast turnaround times,” she added. “When you’re [trying to get] a billion-dollar drug to market, the faster you can get your results, the better.”

Alturas Analytics was chosen by the U.S. Army to collaborate in developing a method for the analysis of atropine from serum. Atropine is a treatment drug used to protect against chemical warfare nerve agents.

“They wanted to see what sorts of reactions were going on with the drug in different concentrations,” says Woods, adding that as a smaller company, Alturas Analytics can more easily deal with the red tape associated with high-security projects.

“It’s really exciting to be involved in this field because we’re doing different things all the time,” she says. “Drug testing is 10 to 15 years, and we’re doing just a tiny piece of it – we’re involved with anything from the discovery phase, where companies are trying to figure out what the new drug will be used for, all the way up to where they’re putting it into clinical trials.”

By Robin Woods - Special to the Idaho Statesman, January 11, 2008
Starting up: Forecasting helps young companies minimize risks of expansion, Idaho Statesman (PDF 343kb)

By Omie Drawhorn, Daily News staff writer
Saturday, September 8, 2007

Alturas Analytics, Inc. was begun in a garage, but Thursday ground was broken for a 10,000 square-foot, $1.5 million facility in Alturas Technology Park.

The business, which provides sample analyses for the biotech and pharmaceutical industries, has been in the technology park since 2000, operating in the same building as Anatek. It has since outgrown that facility.

"We have been growing, acquiring new equipment and we need different kinds of security-type things for the pharmaceutical (side)," said Robin Woods, co-owner of Alturas Analytics.

Latah Economic Development Council Executive Director Margaret Howlett said a lot of larger pharmaceutical companies have started to outsource some of their lab testing, which is bringing in more business for Alturas Analytics.

Alturas Analytics "has taken a niche market and gone in and built the business up, doubling the size of the facility," she said.

Woods said the staff likely will increase from 16 to 19 or 20 in the first year after its new facility is completed.

People in the pharmaceutical areas of south San Francisco, San Diego and Seattle have tried to recruit Alturas Analytics to their respective areas, but in the end, Woods said Moscow was the best place for the business.

"It's a good business climate for us," Woods said. "Idaho is a good state to have a business in, and it's great for us to be in Moscow, living close to the labs so we can check on things in the middle of the night."

She said the University of Idaho and Washington State University also provide a pool of qualified employees to hire from.

"In San Francisco it's like musical chairs with people switching employees all the time; here you find people who stay a while," Woods said.

She said being part of Alturas Technology Park, which was formed in 1996 as a center for businesses specializing in research and advanced technology, also is a good thing, and the new facility will literally move in next door to the old facility.

"We got a grant to put in fiber optics in there and with Fed Ex we can communicate faster via the Internet," she said.

Woods said the new facility will be a "green" building, with bike racks and parking for electric cars.

"I would like to encourage more science and tech transfers out of the UI a little more," she said.

Woods said she attended the Idaho Science and Technology Council last week and learned that for every science and technology job, four or five other jobs come out of that, which is higher than any other industry.

Howlett said the fact that Alturas will be hiring more people with the expansion is a positive for Moscow.

"Those are jobs that are very good for the community," she said. "They are good-paying jobs and as more people begin to look at that, Alturas can do business here. Even customers based primarily in Seattle or San Francisco can outsource those things to a community such as Moscow and still do good business."

She said the park in general has been a success.

"It started out very slow but we just finished the new phase; in recent years we really started to step up a little," she said.

Two lots in the second phase already have sold, with Alturas Analytics building a facility there, along with EcoAnalysts.

Howlett said the construction timeline is estimated at about six months.

Omie Drawhorn can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 238, or by e-mail at odrawhorn@dnews.com.

 

Alturas Analytics was recently ranked #1 CRO for providing LC/MS/MS services to one of our large pharma clients. The client ranked CRO’s from around the world and Alturas Analytics was ranked #1 for the following reasons: (in order of importance)

1. Responsiveness
2. Turn around time
3. Cost

A quote from one of our the clients:

“We like that we can contact Alturas Analytics and talk with the scientist in charge of the project to get an immediate update.”

Our staff have the experience and flexibility to meet your study needs. Our highly-trained staff utilize the latest technology including Applied Biosystems/MDS SCIEX mass spectrometers. Alturas Analytics has earned a reputation as a “problem solver” for handling challenging projects.

Since our inception in 2000, Alturas has continued to show controlled growth by adding new clients as well as new projects from existing clients. We expect to be moving into our new, expanded laboratory space 3rd Q of 2007! We look forward to our continued success as we add more staff and systems to better serve our clients.

Alturas Analytics was recently the featured company selected by the the Idaho Department of Commerce and Labor in the Office of Science and Technology. Idaho’s technology industry is recognized nationally and internationally for its tech firms and research capabilities. A culture of entrepreneurialism and independent thinkers have capitalized on a welcoming business climate, low utility costs and a high quality of life. Alturas Analytics is glad to be part of Idaho’s technology sector. For more information please visit, Idaho‘s Newest Technology Sector: The Biosciences (PDF 956kb)