Our Approach
Preclinical Contract Research Organization (CRO) specializes in meticulously evaluating the drug development process from early screening.
Our aim is to assist pharmaceutical, biotechnology and nutraceutical companies, along with research laboratories, in optimizing preclinical drug candidate studies. By doing so, we endeavor to significantly decrease both the cost and time to market for new therapies. Over a span exceeding 15 years, we have been developing and using our expertise in metabolic diseases and behavior mechanisms, leveraging it to deliver reliable preclinical studies targeting a spectrum of pathologies, such as obesity, diabetes, NASH/MASH fibrosis, inflammation, oxidative stress, and conditions influencing behavior. In this way, we carry out a wide range of tests to demonstrate the effectiveness of our clients’ drug candidates.
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Metabotech has a leading scientific team in the field of physiology, with more than 15 years of experience backed by a high scientific production in high-impact journals that support its quality.
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We develop innovative models for all metabolic diseases and their complications, as well as a wide range of tests to demonstrate the effectiveness of our clients’ drug candidates.
Services
In vivo metabolic disorders
In vivo metabolic studies are a mandatory step for the development of drugs targeting metabolic disorders. Using our different mice models, we deliver golden - standard and innovative experiments to demonstrate your drugs’ efficacy. Benefit from our validated radio-tracer based experiments and technical platform to dissect the mechanism by which your drug treats metabolic disorders
Energy homeostasis
Assessment of body composition (EcoMRI)
Assessment of energy expenditure (Promethion Core): 36 climatic chambers with control of ambient temperature (from 4 to 30ºC) and control of light/dark cycles.
Bomb calorimeter
Infrarred camera
Glucose homeostasis
Euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp
Hyperglycemic clamp
Hypoglycemic clamp
Whole body glucose turnover
In vivo tissue-specific glucose uptake<
Hepatic glucose productiont
Glucose tolerance test – GTT
Insulin tolerance test – ITT
Pyruvate tolerance test- PTT
Glycerol tolerance test-GlyTT
Glucose-stimulated insulin secretion- GSIS
Lipid metabolism
In vivo metabolic studies are a mandatory step for the development of drugs targeting metabolic disorders. Using our different mice models, we deliver golden - standard and innovative experiments to demonstrate your drugs’ efficacy. Benefit from our validated radio-tracer based experiments and technical platform to dissect the mechanism by which your drug treats metabolic disorders
Surgery services
Catheter implantation into the jugular vein
Catheter implantation into the carotid artery
Injection of substances into the tail vein
Ovariectomy
Implantation of osmotic pumps
Stereotaxic surgery
Cava vein insulin administration
Diet- and chemical-induced obese models
Conducting in vivo metabolic studies is an essential prerequisite in drug development for addressing metabolic disorders. Using our different chemical- or diet-induced obese/fibrotic models, we offer both gold-standard and innovative experiments to effectively showcase the efficacy of your drugs.
Behavior tests
Metabotech offers a wide variety of tests to asses parameters as: memory, stress, anxiety, learning, spontaneous activity, balance, grip strength, endurance, motor coordination, and physical resistance.
Biochemical and histological analysis
These are complementary methodologies alongside in vivo/ex vivo studies to comprehensively characterize the potential of your drug candidates and their tissue-level impact within organisms.
Metabotech offers an extensive array of biochemical assays and histology analyses to evaluate the efficacy of your drugs/genes.
Colorimetric assays
Plasma and hepatic lipids (cholesterol, triglycerides, fatty acids)
Plasma ALT/AST
etc
ELISAS and enzimatic assays
Insulin Glucagon Leptin Others
Western Blot analysis
For detection and quantification of protein levels in samples/tissues.
Real time PCR (qPCR)
For detection and quantification of gene expression in any tissue.
RNA scope
For detection of RNA expression in situ in cell or tissue samples.
Histology service
Optic or confocal microscopy of several stainings (H&E, ORO, Sirius Red, etc.), immunohistochemestry and immunofluorescence.
In vitro / ex vivo assays
These kind of assays are a valuable tool in scientific research that allow researchers to conduct controlled experiments to understand a wide range of biological processes and develop new medical treatments and therapies. We offer a realm of possibilities, including Seahorse Technology, to address your in vitro pharmacology needs, enhancing the efficacy of the drug or gene testing.
Capabilities
At Metabotech, we are specialized in providing comprehensive services for preclinical studies of obesity and metabolic disorders. We offer invaluable support to scientists and medical researchers, with our core expertise lying in the development and utilization of in vitro and in vivo models.
Our focus on obesity and metabolic diseases extends beyond their physical manifestation, inquiring about the molecular and cellular processes. We offer several animal models of obesity and metabolic disorders to study the physiological changes and underlying mechanisms. Our integrative approach provides mechanistic understanding of your drug candidates’ efficacy for better translation to the clinical setting and help to bring new therapies to the light.
Metabotech offers preclinical CRO services using innovative and benchmarked animal models of obesity, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes to study the effects of potential new therapies.
Our clients benefit from our experts’ capabilities, which include classical in vivo test experiments (GTT, ITT, tissue-specific insulin sensitivity, GSIS, etc.) and our gold standard tracer- based experiments: euglycemic – hyperglycemic – hyperinsulinemic clamp with 3H-glucose (for glucose turnover, hepatic glucose production, etc.) and 14C-2-deoxyglucose (for glucose tissue uptake in insulin-sensitive organs).
The increase in the global prevalence of NASH/MASH (Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis, Metabolic Dysfunction Associated SteatoHepatitis) has turned into an epidemic, urgently requiring effective therapies. At Metabotech, we are dedicated to advancing liver research and understanding the complexities of the hepatic system through comprehensive in vivo and in vitro liver models, histology, and bioanalysis services.
Metabotech provides high quality NASH/MASH preclinical CRO services in order to help clients develop new treatments for NASH/MASH and liver fibrosis. With extensive experience in preclinical studies, safety and efficacy, we have developed specialized models that focus on the liver, providing invaluable insights into the effects of compounds on hepatic function.
We offer a diverse range of tests focused on stress, memory and learning, movility, agility, endurance and dexterity tailored to address the industry’s needs.
Our behavioral CRO specializes in delivering reliable and robust preclinical insights into the underlying mechanisms of behavior. This enables researchers to explore behavior mechanisms and evaluate the potential of therapeutics and drug development effectively.
Preclinical evaluation of the beneficial effects of nutraceuticals is a mandatory step to develop such treatments. Metabotech offers nutraceuticals preclinical studies to evaluate your products (drugs, vegetal extracts, prebiotics and probiotics) targeting obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and related metabolic disorders using our benchmarked mouse models.
Our expertise spanning over 15 years enables us to deliver reliable results and assist our clients in reducing the time to market for their newly developed nutraceuticals.
Our CRO service specialized in animal nutrition is designed to elucidate the effectiveness of pharmacological treatments on the health of both domestic and farming animals, evaluating the effect they have on the control of body weight, appetite, and carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. The effect of different animal feeds or foods in development phase on the metabolism and general well-being of the animal is also evaluated.
The quality of our work can be attributed to the expert qualifications of our staff, supported by over 290 scientific publications that support our findings and validate our technical methods. This provides a valuable source of advice and guidance for our clients with their development programs, creating scientific approaches or experimental designs specifically based on a comprehensive array of differentiated services to be applied according to the needs of each client.
We combine our core values of personalized customer service, flexibility, and scientific innovation, to provide a consistently superior service.
Management Team
Rubén Nogueiras
Rubén joined the Spanish R&D system through the Ramón y Cajal Program in 2009. In 2014, he obtained a position as Associate Professor at the University of Santiago de Compostela, and since 2020, he is a researcher in the Oportunius Program of the Xunta de Galicia.
According to the “World Scientist and University Rankings 2023” , Rubén is in the top 3% among more than 1.3 million researchers, being an international reference in the study of the molecular mechanisms involved in the development of obesity and its associated diseases such as type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (MAFLD).
Uxía Fernández
Uxía obtained a University Degree in Biology, followed by a Biomedical Research Master. She earned his Ph.D. in Endocrinology, studying the altered molecular mechanisms behind obesity/type 2 diabetes.
She has been responsible for establishing the euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp technique, the “gold standard” test for determining insulin sensitivity/resistance in vivo. At this moment, she is the only person performing this approach in Spain.
David Calvo
Graduated in Business Administration and Master in Banking and Finance, he completed his academic training with a Specialization Degree in Technology Transfer and Clinical Trials, as well as Research Commercialization, Consultancy, Licensing and Business Creation”.
David is a consultant specialized in valorization of technological projects, and expert evaluator and advisor for European Union financing programs for start-ups (EIC Instrument, T2M, Cinea). With more than 15 years of experience in science management, start-ups and investment.
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Partners
TSN Scientific provides expert on-site services for preclinical rodent in vivo research.
Through the unique “rent-a-surgeon” model, TSN Scientific offers specialized rodent surgery directly at client sites, ensuring flexible and precise integration of microsurgical models into preclinical rodent studies. In partnership with the Rene Remie Surgical Skills Centre, TSN Scientific also provides customized microsurgical training courses in the client facility to help teams establish in-house surgical capabilities with the highest standards in aseptic surgery and good surgical practice.
With extensive experience in freely moving infusion/sampling models, continuous physiological monitoring, data analysis, and digital biomarker development, TSN Scientific supports clients in generating precise, reproducible results, enhancing both research outcomes and animal welfare. Visit www.tsnscientific.com to learn more.