About Pavonis
Pavonis Diagnostics is an Edmonton-based company developing VICA™, a label-free platform for comparing binding, specificity and kinetics across selected experimental conditions. We work with research teams to use those measurements in candidate selection and to investigate how interactions change with the sample matrix or addition of another protein.
Our story
During his work as a surgeon-scientist, co-founder and CEO Todd McMullen encountered barriers that restricted the experiments researchers could perform. Expensive instruments, limited samples and assays that were difficult to adapt helped define the problem Pavonis set out to address.
VICA™ was developed to make early binding measurements more accessible, using a colour-active surface that makes binding visible. With selected solid-phase and solution-phase formats on the same platform, researchers can investigate how different interactions respond to changes in experimental conditions.
Today and next
Today, research teams can commission Pavonis to perform pilot and service studies alongside their existing assays. We review the targets and samples with them, then select suitable measurements for early comparison and candidate screening. This work uses the current, manually operated VICA™ platform, whose capabilities do not include automated thousand-compound screening or specialist low-picomolar measurements.
Our broader ambition is to make binding measurement available wherever discovery teams need it. A compact reader allows suitable assays to move beyond the laboratory into field research, with each test developed for its application. New medical and clinical diagnostic uses require separate development and validation.
Principles
Measurements need their experimental context to be interpreted. By reporting the conditions and limitations alongside the findings, we make clear what the data supports.
A finding can prompt another experiment under different conditions. We support that investigation through flexible assays that allow researchers to change selected formats and conditions.
Because binding can change with the experimental environment, the conditions form part of the result. Comparing selected formats and conditions helps researchers investigate the differences.
Instrument costs, infrastructure and sample requirements can restrict access to binding measurements. A Pavonis-run study addresses one of those barriers by allowing researchers to evaluate VICA™ without purchasing an instrument.
Before committing more time and material, research teams can use early binding studies to compare candidates and conditions. The findings help identify which molecules warrant further characterization and which experimental differences need investigation.
Research access
Publications in npj Biosensing, Molecular Pharmaceutics and Nature Communications describe VICA™’s methods and use in research. A VICA™ platform is also installed at MolScreen, and researchers can contact Pavonis to discuss access for a proposed study.
Our team combines surgical research, materials science, engineering and technology commercialization experience.
