Services and Fees
HPLC Facility
The HPLC Facility consists of over 16 high-throughput automated liquid chromatographic systems capable of detection of a variety of xenobiotics after extraction and chromatographic separation using visible light, UV, fluorescence, radiochemical, refractive index and electrochemical detection. Development of drug extraction and analytical assay procedures are routinely re-established from published methods or are established on site to serve the needs of the investigator.
Charges for HPLC analyses depend on column cost, detector used and extraction method. For an additional fee, the analytical assay can be validated with respect to accuracy, linearity, precision, reproducibility and robustness.
Mass Spectrometry Facility
The MS Facility was established to assist investigators with qualitative and quantitative measurement of small molecules. Typically these consist of drugs and drug-derived compounds. Specific small molecules of interest such as bioactive lipids can also be readily measured. Charges for MS service are based on difficulty of sample preparation and instrument usage (hourly charge). See schedule of charges below.
Services provided include the following:
- Verification of product synthesis, purity and stability
- Quantitation of drugs and drug metabolites for pharmacokinetic analysis
- Determination of drug metabolism
- Identification of complex unknown compounds (i.e., impurities, metabolites, small proteins)
- Quantitation of volatile drugs and drug metabolites (GC/MS)
- Unequivocal confirmation of presence of known compounds (Q-TOF MS)
Pharmacology/Toxicology and Drug Development Services
The faculty and staff of the Pharmacology and Analytical Laboratory Facility are also available for consultation on issues pertaining to drug development and related issues. These might include:
- Drug formulation
- Drug stability in different biological matrices
- Design of studies to assess drug-drug interactions
- Cytotoxicity determinations (cell culture)
- Inhibition of macromolecular synthesis
- Design of clinical pharmacology and pharmacokinetic studies
- Analyses of concentration-time data for determination of pharmacokinetic parameters
Schedule of Charges
The following outlines the FY 2007 Schedule of Charges for the Pharmacology and Analytical Core Facility. Sample analysis charges were increased effective July 1, 2006, in response to new institutional mandates for cost recovery in Core facilities. In contrast to the prior charge structure based solely on number of samples submitted for analysis, the update charge schedule incorporates costs associated with sample preparation based on the difficulty and complexity of the sample preparation method. It also incorporates costs associated with instrument time required, as well as instrument depreciation and maintenance, method development and validation.
The updated charge schedule includes costs for method development, method validation, sample preparation and instrument time as required (hourly rate).
For more information, contact Dr. Robert Newman at 713-563-7543 or Dr. Tim Madden at 713-563-7538.
- Method Development: $5,000
- Method Validation: $10,000
- Sample Preparation:
- Level 1 (simple or easy): $15/sample
- Level 2 (intermediate difficulty): $25/sample
- Level 3 (difficult and complex): $40/sample
- Instrument Time (minimum one hour):
- LC/MS: $30/hour
- LC/MS/MS: $50/hour
- Accurate mass (QTOF): $125/hour
- GC/MS: $30/hour