The new VIPS system is the second major product line launched by Solentim

Bournemouth, UK – Solentim, the developer of instrumentation for cell line development, today announced the addition of a major new product line called the VIPS™ (‘Validated In-situ Plate Seeding’). The VIPS has been developed for automatically seeding single cells into 96 and 384 well microplates as part of the process to generate clonally-derived cell lines. The new system offers a simple and more reliable solution when compared to traditional single cell seeding techniques, and offers customers the ability to improve their subsequent clone screening process by starting with potentially fewer numbers of plates.

The VIPS builds upon the wide adoption, regulatory acceptance and established benefits of a limiting dilutions approach, but then most significantly it dramatically increases the plate seeding efficiency. This is achieved by a unique process, called SMART LD™, whereby imaging of the well is carried out immediately after a cell dispensing event and automated cell detection confirms whether a single cell was dispensed or not. This is an iterative process repeated several times over to ensure a final plate with a resultant high occupancy of single cells in wells, most of which will grow out to form colonies.

Aaron Figg, Director commented, “the VIPS is now our second major product line and represents another significant milestone in the growth of the company.” Mr Figg added, “from our customers’ workflow perspective, the VIPS seeding system is the ideal complement to our Cell Metric® imager which is used to generate evidence of the clonal origin of cell lines.”

The VIPS is available immediately for sale to customers in the US and Europe, with worldwide availability following in due course.