Peptide synthesizers work by treating amino acids with reagents to protect functional groups on the molecule where reactions are not desired. Suitably activated amino acids are then added with various reagents. After synthesis, the completed peptide is cleaved from the resin for purification.

Peptide synthesizers come in manual, semi-automated and fully automated formats. Manual synthesizers, as the name suggests, require the user to manually perform all of the steps required for synthesis. Semi-automated systems automate only some parts of the peptide-construction hierarchy and require less user intervention. Automated protein/peptide synthesizers are specially designed liquid handling workstations, which are used to automatically construct short strands of peptides. Some synthesizers use microwave energy to complete the synthesis reaction.

The primary advantage of manual peptide synthesizers is the lower cost. Such synthesizers are heavily used in low-throughput academic research and teaching labs. The automated platforms are used in labs requiring high-throughput peptide synthesis, such as labs doing library screening applications. However, the more channels a synthesizer integrates, the higher the instrument price.

Microwave synthesizers have the advantage of quicker reaction times, but they are generally more expensive than comparably equipped traditional peptide synthesizers. In addition, using microwave as a heat source can be damaging to reactions that require lower temperatures.

CEM, the largest provider of microwave technology, manufactures two products lines of microwave peptide synthesizers. Its Discovery SPS line is a manual peptide synthesizer. The newly launched Liberty line is fully automatic and available in either a single or a 12-channel configuration.

Protein Technologies, another major player in the peptide synthesizer market, offers a wide range of traditional peptide synthesizers. The company offers instruments ranging from two-channel to 96-channel high-throughput models. The Tribute is Protein Technologies’ two-channel manual system, while its newly released Overture offers 96-channel synthesis capacity.

Biotage AB and MultiSynTech GmbH recently teamed up to offer both manual and automated systems. Biotage gained distribution rights for MultiSynTech’s peptide synthesis systems. Also, the companies have jointly developed a microwave-aided peptide synthesis system. Biotage and MultiSynTech’s SyroWave synthesizer is capable of performing both microwave and parallel peptide synthesis on the same platform.

The market for peptide synthesis has been experiencing rapid growth in the past few years. While the growth has leveled off slightly due to competition from organic synthesizers, sales are still expected to grow in the upper single digits for the next few years.

Peptide Synthesizers at a Glance:

Leading Suppliers

• CEM

• Protein Technologies

• Biotage AB

Largest Markets

• Biotech/Pharmaceutical

• Academia

• Chemicals

Instrument Cost

• $10,000–$200,000