Company Announcements

Biodesix announced in July that it will begin offering Biognosys’s HRM technology as part of its companion diagnostic–development capabilities to create novel protein assays for the oncology market.

In August, Agilent Technologies announced a collaboration with Dr. Steven Gross of Weill Cornell Medical College’s Department of Pharmacology to advance ALS research. Agilent MS systems will enable the testing of the hypothesis that fibroblasts express systemic metabolic markers that inform ALS. The effort is also designed to advance multiomics-based research.

Agena Bioscience opened an office in Shanghai, China, in September.

IONICON announced a partnership with Fontem Ventures to conduct research into e-cigarette aerosols.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced in September that its Thermo Scientific Prelude MD HPLC, Endura MD MS and ClinQuan MD software received the EU’s CE mark.

Microsaic Systems’ product range is now compatible with DataApex’s Clarity Chromatography Software.

Sigma-Aldrich signed an exclusive global distribution agreement with IROA Technologies for IROA’s Mass Spectrometry Metabolite Library of Standards.

Waters named Ohio State University’s Campus Chemical Instrument Center to its Centers of Innovation Program. The Center is widely renowned for fundamental research into ways of characterizing protein complexes. The Center is headed by Professor Vicki Wysocki, who is a driving force behind surface-induced dissociation for MS.

SCIEX announced an exclusive reseller agreement with Advaita Bioinformatics for its iPathway Guide platform.

Product Introductions

In August, Advion released CheMS software for its expression compact MS and new bundled systems specifically configured for chemists’ workflows. Deliveries began in the fourth quarter.

Agena Bioscience introduced the Chip prep module for automated sample handling after PCR for its MassARRAY 96-well System. It automates several processing steps, including dispensing and desalting samples onto the SpectroCHIP Array, and subsequently loading onto the MassARRAY Analyzer.

In September, Bruker launched the new rapifleX MALDI-TOF/TOF MS system, featuring redesigned TOF/TOF ion optics for higher speed, mass resolution and mass accuracy. It also integrates a 10 kHz smartbeam 3-D scanning laser design.

Shimadzu introduced the new Nexera MX LC/MS system, stating that it offers up to double the sample processing capability of conventional LC/MS systems. It features two analytical flow lines, which alternate injecting samples, and allows continuous analysis at a cycle time of 20 seconds per sample.