NTS Ventures and IHMA Announce a Collaborative Agreement to Provide an Extensive Suite of Clinical Mycology, Antifungal and Microbiology Laboratory Services to Support Anti-infective Drug Development to the Biopharmaceutical Industry

SCHAUMBURG, Ill., Dec. 04, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NTS Ventures (NTS), a mycology and antifungal clinical research laboratory and International Health Management Associates, Inc./IHMA Europe Sàrl (IHMA), a full-service central clinical microbiology laboratory have announced a non-exclusive collaborative agreement that will provide the pharmaceutical industry with an extensive suite of mycology and antifungal testing services and microbiology testing services, including specialties in antibacterial agents and biofilms. The suite of services includes pre-clinical in vitro and in vivo antifungal services, mechanism of action investigations, full antifungal clinical trial services and regulatory services as well as microbiology support for clinical and surveillance studies and specialty testing studies.

The development of new anti-infectives has increased rapidly over the past ten years. The need to support these important, life-saving products has increased as well. The agreement between NTS and IHMA will allow all pharmaceutical and biotech companies access to mycological, antifungal and microbiology clinical laboratory testing that is required to develop and support antifungal and antimicrobial drugs. Both NTS and IHMA employ highly qualified and experienced clinical microbiologists and scientists with expertise in anti-infectives. With this collaboration, IHMA and NTS will be able to offer an extensive suite of mycology and antifungal testing services in addition to its existing all-encompassing suite of antibacterial services.

"This collaborative partnership integrating the outstanding capabilities at both IHMA and NTS creates a single destination for antimicrobial drug development, creating an incredibly efficient and expedient resource for the biopharmaceutical industry," said Dr. Mahmoud Ghannoum, Founder of NTS Ventures.

"IHMA is very excited about this new relationship with NTS Ventures. This opportunity gives both organizations the ability to better support the biopharmaceutical industry's goals to develop new and more potent antifungal and antibacterial agents," said Dr. Daniel Sahm, Chief Scientific Officer and VP of Global Microbiology Services at IHMA, Inc.

ABOUT NTS Ventures

NTS is based in Cleveland, OH and provides preclinical, clinical and translational services designed to bring antifungal, antibacterial and dermatology agents from discovery to market. NTS has the ability to support drug development in preclinical and clinical testing phases in order to satisfy FDA Investigational New Drug (IND) and New Drug Application (NDA) submissions. Over the past 25 years the NTS team has worked with a large range of entities including global Big Pharma, start up and growth stage biotech companies, full-spectrum CRO's as well as academic institutions.

For more information, please visit https://www.ntsventures.com.

ABOUT IHMA

IHMA is based in Schaumburg, IL USA and Monthey, Switzerland and has been a premier provider of antimicrobial drug development services over the past 25 years. Our laboratory facilities in both the US and Europe partner with clients around the world in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and diagnostic industries. IHMA is a leading, independent laboratory specializing in surveillance studies and clinical trials, key milestones along the continuum from drug development to commercialization. IHMA utilizes state of the art technology, leading to first-class testing and data as well as sound economic frameworks. IHMA's services can be customized to best align with its clients' unique testing needs. This ensures successful drug development, commercialization, and post-marketing pathways.

For more information, visit the IHMA website at: www.ihma.com

CONTACT INFORMATION 
Contact 
Igael Hamburg 
847-303-5003 
[email protected]