Not all stages of the drug development process are created equal. So scientists at Analytical Bio-Chemistry Laboratories don’t treat them the same.

“At different points in the development process, you’re looking to determine different types of information,” said Kristein King, vice president of strategy and workforce development at the Columbia, Mo.-based firm. “We help clients devise a strategy to make the most use of their money.”

Analytical Bio-Chemistry Laboratories is in the drug-development outsourcing business. Its scientists and consultants help its pharmaceutical-maker clients take a new drug through the multistep development process, from drug discovery to bringing the drug to market. The entire process can take a decade or more.

The GLP-and CGMP-compliant firm takes a “phase-appropriate approach” to minimize development risk and strike the balance between regulatory compliance and practical economics, King said.

Some small pharmaceutical makers, for example, are only interested in bringing a new drug to the proof-of-concept phase. Analytical Bio-Chemistry Laboratories helps those clients produce the data needed to sell the drug to another pharmaceutical maker that will ultimately take it to market, King said.

King said the lab has a formalized process for dealing with each phase of drug development and backs up its work with hard, verifiable metrics. “We track everything,” she said.

In addition to drug development outsourcing, Analytical Bio-Chemistry Laboratories also offers environmental services, including crop protection services and endocrine disruptor testing.