Pharmaceutical-grade antibiotics are designed for the human body, but are not optimized for in vitro systems. There are a number of ways to optimize your AST platforms to increase efficiency and performance. Many systems require the antibiotic to be soluble in water, so solubility and compatibility with different solvents is important. Antibiotic degradation is also a concern, and there are many ways to improve the stability of formulations by incorporating excipients/stabilizers, or modifying the compounds to extend the life of the product. Impurities found in commercial antibiotics may also interfere with the performance and the consistency of the results of the compound you are working with in your AST platform. Thus, by controlling the impurity profile, or by further purifying the compound may lead to better performance. The influence of dyes and the interaction with the antibiotics during the dry-down process can also influence results.
Our large portfolio of antimicrobials can be used in AST testing platforms. Our Antimicrobial Index summarizes MIC information for 67,000 microorganisms (7850 unique strains) and 4,000 different antimicrobial agents. You can search by microorganism, or by the antimicrobial you are working with.
We also offer a range of services for AST applications. Our services are designed to complement AST testing platform. Our expertise with the properties of the antimicrobials allows us to formulate with excipients/additives to enhanced solubility and stability. Our ability to measure the activity of antibiotics in very low concentrations allows for more accurate reporting and analysis. Our microbiological susceptibility testing capabilities support validation and performance of the system you are working with. We are able to do stability testing (accelerated/real-time) and have the equipment and capabilities to support your research studies. We are able to offer custom dispensing and dry-down services, for complete end-to-end worklows.
We hope you have enjoyed this blog series, and we invite you to learn more about our AST services by clicking here.