Company News

Specialty resin provider Purolite Life Sciences announced in June a collaboration with ChromaTan, a supplier of single-use chromatography solutions, to develop and commercialize a custom-designed, novel Protein A resin bead specifically to address the needs of continuous manufacturing.

In September, Phenomenex initiated direct sales and support in Switzerland. The decision was a mutual agreement with its local distributor, Brechbühler.

PharmaFluidics, a maker of nano-LC cartridges, appointed Fasha Mahjooras as an independent director. He served as president of Phenomenex until July 2017 and currently serves as chairman of Farrona, a holdings company.

In October, Takeda Pharmaceutical announced the launch of Chromajean, the second biotech company to originate as part of its Entrepreneurship Venture Program initiative. Chromajean offers services contributing to preclinical and early development chemistry efforts. This includes an enhanced chromatography process using a unique algorithm that allows all scientists to optimize analytical and purification methods without having to depend on individual capability and experience.

GE Healthcare opened in October its first printing lab, the Innovative Design and Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center for Europe, in Uppsala, Sweden. The Center combines advanced manufacturing technology and collaborative robots with traditional machining equipment. GE is working with biotech firm Amgen to test the performance of a custom-designed, 3D-printed chromatography column for biopharmaceutical production.

In October, ChromaCon announced the establishment of a training center for automated and continuous chromatography at the Chinese National Engineering Research Center for Protein Drugs in Beijing, China. The training center will be operated by its distribution partners H&E and Center staff.

Product Introductions

In August, MS company Advion released easy-to-use UHPLC and HPLC systems. The systems work in synergy with the company’s compact mass expression CMS systems.

Showa Denko introduced in October five new Shodex analytical HPLC columns: the GPC HK-401, GPC HK-405 and GPC HK-HFIP4041 for GPC and SEC; the OHpak LB-805 packed columns for gel filtration chromatography; and the IEC SP-FT 4A packed column for ion exchange chromatography. The columns feature faster analysis times and higher sensitivity.

In September, Shimadzu launched the i-Series Plus integrated HPLC. It features automated sample pretreatment, including processes to dilute samples and add reagents, as well as a mode to inhibit orphan data (measurements performed without leaving records on the instrument). This is the fifth product in the i-Series product line.

ChromaCon launched in September the Contrichrom Discovery, a highly automated multistep batch FLC system for tagged proteins and antibodies. It combines full single-column batch functionality and automated multistep batch purification. A high-throughput model can purify up to 18 consecutive samples per sequencing unattended.

Shimadzu debuted in September the Nexera FV UHPLC to improve the operational efficiency of tests to evaluate the dissolution of contained components in the development and QC of pharmaceutical dosage forms. It features automated sampling, automated calculation of dissolution rate and automated output of test results.

Evosep debuted in September the Evosep One, a novel separation solution designed for fast and robust separation of omics samples in large clinical cohort studies (primarily proteomics and metabolomics). The design target is the separation of omics samples at 1 µL/min into an MS, with 24/7 operation at 200 samples per day.

Phenomenex released in October the SecurityCAP, a mobile phase and solvent waste–safety system for HPLC and UHPLC systems.

Phenomenex introduced in October the Kinetex 3.5 µm PAH HPLC/UHPLC column, which combines unique selectivity for PAHs with Core Shell Technology.

In October, Postnova Analytics debuted the EAF2000 for simultaneous electric and asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation. It enables separations by particle size and particle charge based on electrophoretic mobility. It is available with a wide range of add-on modules, including RI, MALS and DLS detectors.

Sales/Orders of Note

In September, ChromaTan was awarded a two-year, $2.5 million contract from the FDA to develop an integrated, continuous downstream purification platform for the production of monoclonal antibodies.

Shimadzu announced in September the sale of over 10,000 units of its i-Series U/HPLC systems.