The Canadian contract research organisation (CRO) said that the system provides real time quantitative pulmonary monitoring of cardiovascular and respiratory parameters in conscious freely moving animals.
LR went on to explain that the ability to monitor both parameters simultaneously allows for more accurate interpretations of safety results in preclinical cal drug development.
The firm also suggested that the technology, which is expected to enter the good laboratory practice (GLP) validation process sometime this year, will offer significant time and resource management benefits.
CEO Luc Mainville said that completion of the project: "Signals our continued efforts to validate novel laboratory systems that offer alternatives to or reduced reliance on the use of animals for research and development.
“The improvement in interpretation of safety pharmacology results and allocation of valuable resources during the drug development process will greatly benefit our clients while reducing the total number of animals used in such studies by 80%.
Mainville added that LR hopes to make the technology available to its pharmaceutical industry clients for preclinical drug development and safety testing projects before the end of the year.
Laboratory expansion
The new technology follows hot on the heels of a three year, C$65m (€41.8) laboratory expansion program at LR’s facilities in Denmark and Hungary.
Late last year Mainville told Outsourcing-pharma that: “It is clear that adding scale and broadening our services to include bioanalytical, drug metabolism, reproductive toxicology and more inhalation have been key factors.
Clearly the development of the new cardiopulmonary monitoring system is an indication that LR plans to continue investing in its technology to further expand its preclinical research offering.