A new ultra-compact sterile connector is said to provide biopharmaceutical manufacturers a much-needed alternative to tube welding for their small-volume closed aseptic processes.
MicroCNX Series Connectors from CPC are the industry’s first aseptic connectors designed to provide a simple, efficient method of connecting tubing in small-format assemblies, said the firm.
“MicroCNX connectors are a critically important option for a range of bioprocessing, cell therapy and gene therapy workflows,” said Troy Ostreng, senior product manager for CPC’s biopharmaceutical business. “Until now, cumbersome tube welding has been the only way to make sterile closed connections of very small-bore tubing. The MicroCNX connector represents a huge innovation for the industry.”
MicroCNX connectors are designed specifically for small-volume processes involving widely used 1/16” (1.6mm), 3/32” (2.4mm) and 1/8” (3.2mm) tubing. These include sampling, seed train expansion and early cell culture processes involving shaker flasks and rocker tables.
“The MicroCNX series was designed to help manufacturers improve efficiencies and reduce time and total cost in creating closed systems that deliver reliable, reproducible results,” said Ostreng.
Testing indicates that making a sterile connection with the new connector is up to four times faster than an operator using a tube welder, reported the developer. Meaning, in the time required to create one weld, up to four MicroCNX connections could be completed, it added. "Multiply those numbers over the course of a year, and the operational efficiencies are clear."
Use of aseptic connectors eliminates the need to purchase, calibrate, validate, and maintain tube welders that can cost more than €12,700 ($15,000) each, it continued.
Manufacturers often need multiple welders, which take up valuable space in a cleanroom, said the developer.
“It’s expensive and time consuming to validate new space,” Ostreng noted. “MicroCNX connectors can help biopharmaceutical and cell and gene therapy manufacturers make the most of their existing cleanroom space.”
Atik Cameras has launched the first in its advanced imaging solutions, the TE-77 CCD sensor.
The CCD sensor boasts large square pixels and achieves incredibly low read noise, enabling detection of the faintest signals, said the company, a specialist designer and manufacturer of scientific and industrial imaging solutions.
The TE-77 heralds a new chapter for Atik Cameras. It paves the way for a new series of advanced performance, scientific imaging cameras, capable of remarkable sensitivity, said the firm.
The TE-77 can be used in applications such as chemiluminescence, fluorescence, spectroscopy, microscopy, and bioluminescence, according to the developer.
Image: Thermo Scientific Vanquish Neo Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography (UHPLC) System
November saw Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc announce proteomics related developments and a series of co-marketing agreements with industry experts.
Those relationships as well as new additions to its mass spectrometry (MS) and chromatography instruments are aimed, it said, at advancing the throughput, comprehensiveness and quality of proteomics workflows for applications such as single-cell studies and translational research.
“Proteomics research has the potential to expand our scientific understanding and uncover new biomarkers to meet unmet medical needs,” said Andreas Huhmer, senior director, life sciences research omics marketing, Thermo Fisher Scientific. “While there has been significant progress in our ability to perform advanced analyses such as single-cell and translational proteomics, there are still improvements needed in the efficiency and reproducibility of workflows. The agreements we’re announcing today, will enable us to continue to deliver innovative proteomics solutions to customers with a goal to make these workflows accessible to everyone.”
Firstly, Thermo Fisher said it was extending its co-marketing agreement with Biognosys, a developer of next-generation proteomics solutions, to provide laboratories performing high-throughput plasma analysis with innovative and streamlined instruments, kits and software to enable efficient and accurate workflows at scale.
Chromatography portfolio
A new addition to its chromatography instruments, Thermo Fisher said the Vanquish Neo Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography (UHPLC) System is designed for high-sensitivity LC-MS applications, with excellent analytical performance at flow rates from 1 nL/min to 100 µL/min up to 1500 bar.
The separation capabilities and reproducibility of this all-in-one nano-, capillary- and micro-flow LC system will help users to overcome limitations of existing low-flow LC instruments, said the developer.
Thermo Fisher has also extended its chromatography portfolio through the acquisition of Belgium-based PharmaFluidics, the developer of the μPAC range of micro-chip-based chromatography columns.
The µPAC portfolio of columns enhance LC performance in biomarker, proteomics and drug research and development applications, helping biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies uncover new insights and advance scientific discovery, added the company.
Single-cell proteomics workflow
Lastly, a co-marketing agreement between Thermo Fisher and Cellenion, experts in single-cell sample preparation solutions, is aimed at delivering a full workflow, from sample to results, for scientists performing single-cell proteomics analysis.
“Laborious sample preparation has typically held back single-cell MS methods. To overcome this, Cellenion’s sample preparation solution, cellenONE, combines single-cell isolation and nanoliter dispensing to perform every step of the sample preparation using a single device.
“With single-cell proteomics providing vital information on the state of individual cells within heterogeneous environments, the combination of this sample preparation technology with Thermo Fisher’s TMT multiplexing technologies and Orbitrap mass spectrometers will open new doors for researchers.”
Quantifoil, a supplier of electron microscopy (EM) sample supports, has signed an exclusive contract to add HexAuFoil, a new all-gold cryo-electron microscope sample support technology, to its range.
HexAuFoil has been designed to help structural biology researchers in pharma, biotech and academia maximize data collection speed and resolution, enabling movement-free imaging to increase data quality in biological structure determination for drug discovery and basic research.
Over the last decade, the use of cryo-EM to study biomolecules has increased exponentially, and it can now produce truly atomic resolution structures, said Quantifoil.
However, sample preparation is widely recognized as a significant problem slowing the routine use of the technique for drug discovery and basic research. Plunge-freezing of biological samples is required for cryo-EM analysis, but results in the build-up of compressive strain in the ice. Release of this strain due to electron-beam induced local heating causes the image to blur.
Chris Russo and Katerina Naydenova of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) in Cambridge, UK, created HexAuFoil gold supports to overcome this issue.
The <1 µm holes in the supports maintain a ratio of hole size to ice thickness that prevents strain building to a high enough level for these effects to occur. As a result, particles remain stationary and structures can be extrapolated to zero dose before the biomolecules are damaged by exposure to the electron beam, explained the EM suppliers.
An additional benefit is that the hexagonal hole arrangement has a high-packing density that leads to higher data collection rates and therefore increases the throughput of resolved structures which is important for rapid lead optimization, said the company.
HexAuFoil grids have already been successfully trialed on a number of biomolecular samples, including the SARS-COV-2 RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, and will make a vital contribution to the development of novel therapeutics and basic research alike, said Quantifoil.
Quantifoil joined SPT Labtech in 2019 and Russell King, head of Cryo-EM at SPT Labtech commented on the deal: “The improved performance offered by these supports will allow multiple structures to be resolved in a single day, cementing the role of cryo-EM at the heart of the drug discovery process.”
Photo courtesy of Chris Russo, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology
Scitara Corporation has launched an advanced integration platform that it says presents a solution to the lab connectivity challenge that has dogged the industry for decades.
The Scitara Scientific Integration Platform (SIP) establishes a flexible and adaptable framework that helps access and share scientific data across the enterprise, supporting the concept of the self-enabled scientist by facilitating a fully connected laboratory and an in situ configurable platform, said the developer.
SIP’s flagship technology, the Scitara Digital Lab Exchange (DLX), forms an independent and vendor-agnostic integration layer with a new level of intelligence and automation in data management for the laboratory, it explained.
CEO, Ajit Nagral, commented: “The problem we have solved for the life sciences sector is the age-old issue of access to data. Without a platform that connects all instrumentation and resources in the lab, the sector will never be able to achieve the digital transformation we’re seeing revolutionize other industries. For the first time, we have delivered a means to achieve true data mobility, overcoming the barriers of legacy systems, lab systems tied to a single vendor, and insurmountable technical debt. Scitara SIP represents a new paradigm for the industry that includes universal connectivity, automation, and end-to-end data integrity.”
Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc launched StarBrightTM UltraViolet 400 Dye last month, saying it was the first in its range of fluorescent nanoparticles designed for use with a UV laser in flow cytometry applications.
StarBright UltraViolet 400 Dye, it continued, is designed to provide "exceptional brightness" with narrow excitation and emission profiles, making it suitable for use in multicolor flow cytometry panels.
Bio-Rad’s range of StarBright Dyes are conjugated to highly validated flow antibodies and are compatible with most flow cytometers and experimental protocols.
“The new StarBright UltraViolet 400 Dye offers a high-performance alternative to existing dyes excitable by the 355 nanometer UV laser, without the need for special buffers,” said Dr Mike Blundell, product manager, flow cytometry, Life Science Group, Bio-Rad.
