Company Announcements

Bruker announced that in January it entered into a settlement agreement with Isis Pharmaceuticals regarding the companies’ 2008 legal dispute (see IBO 12/31/08).

In February, AB SCIEX announced a collaboration with Europe’s Institute of Cancer Research to improve and standardize methods of MALDI-TOF/TOF–based tissue imaging for studying cancer metastasis.

In March, the National Research Council of Canada’s Institute for Marine Biosciences signed an agreement with AB SCIEX, under which its methods for analysis of marine and freshwater biotoxins will be incorporated into AB SCIEX’s system workflows, including Cliquid software.

In April, Bruker announced that its IVD MALDI Biotyper meets the requirements for sale as a Class 1 Medical Device to clinical microbiology sites in Canada. The product’s exclusive subdistributor in Canada is i2a Canada.

Magellan Biosciences announced in April an agreement with Bruker to deliver microbial identification from cultures using MALDI-TOF proteomic fingerprinting, along with its TREK-brand susceptibility tests, to clinical, research and veterinary lab customers. Magellan will develop and test an integrated cross-platform software interface, and the company’s US microbiology sales force will promote the complementary product offerings.

In April, CovaIX announced the opening of a new production facility in Saugus, Massachusetts. The next HM2 and HM2 TUVO systems to be sold in North America will be produced at the facility. Production starts in June.

Waters announced in May that the Proteomics Core Facility at the Duke University School of Medicine has joined its Centers of Innovation Program.

Product Introductions

IonSense introduced the DART (Direct Analysis in Real Time) XZ Transmission Module consumable screen for in-line transmission. It is available for use with the DART-SVP open-air ionization source.

Thermo Fisher Scientific released the Thermo Scientific ExactFinder software for the Exactive LC/MS system for targeted/nontargeted screening.

Thermo Fisher Scientific introduced the Thermo Scientific PEPotec SRM (Single-reaction Monitoring), a custom peptide library that is designed for medium- to high-throughput development of SRM assays. It consists of fully synthetic crude peptides with a length of 6–25 amino acids. Researchers can also customize their orders.

In May, Advion BioSystems and AB SCIEX launched the LESA (Liquid Extraction Surface Analysis) Clarity for AB SCIEX MS systems. It offers additional functionality and ease of use for the LESA, including a real-time camera system for viewing the solvent droplet interaction with the surface.

Bruker released the single-use MALDI Biotarget sample plates for the MALDI Biotyper workflow. They are suitable for the preparation of up to 48 microbial isolates.