On the cutting edge

A roundup of instrumentation, software and other tools and technology news

Jeffrey Bouley
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OXFORD, U.K.—Earlier this year, Oxford Nanoimaging reported on how the super-resolution Nanoimager is being used by researchers at Micron Oxford, a multidisciplinary bioimaging unit, to advance their cellular imaging techniques for both their facilities and research programs. Micron Oxford is a collaborative unit working with biomedical researchers in the Oxford area and beyond to apply advanced light microscopy imaging techniques to address key biological questions. Founded in 2010, Micron is supported by Wellcome Trust strategic funding.
 
“We operate in a multidisciplinary scientific environment. Though based in the Department of Biochemistry, our users come from areas and departments across the scientific spectrum—from biology to chemistry, physics and photonics,” explained Andrew Jefferson, facility manager. “As part of our remit at Micron, we always look to provide our users with the latest ground-breaking technologies. We have invested in super-resolution microscopy but not had an instrument that was accessible to all levels of user. That was until we discovered the Nanoimager from Oxford Nanoimaging.”
 
With initial installations in the United Kingdom and United States producing what Oxford Nanoimaging calls “exciting data,” the company is looking forward to 2017 with installations in Europe and the Far East, from Israel to Japan. Says the company: “Acceptance of the Nanoimager by the microscopy community plus the onset of the presentation of data at conferences is indicative of a bright future for this innovatively small footprint, benchtop super-resolution microscope.”
 
Following are some other examples of recent news on the tools and technology front of interest to DDNews readers.
 

Nova collaborates with Flownamics to enable online automation of cell culture sampling
 
WALTHAM, Mass.—Nova Biomedical, in collaboration with Flownamics Corp., has announced an online automation solution for cell culture sampling and comprehensive analysis for bench-scale bioreactor cultures. Nova’s BioProfile FLEX2, with 16 key cell culture tests and maintenance-free sensors, can now be paired with the Flownamics Seg-Flow Online Autosampler, enabling completely automated online sampling from up to eight bioreactor cultures.
 
The collaboration between Flownamics and Nova Biomedical allows offline and at-line data to seamlessly integrate into a multifunctional online process analytical technology tool through the Seg-Flow system’s communication interface. This software simultaneously acquires all FLEX2 data and can export the data to any Open Platform Communications-enabled supervisory control and data acquisition for enhanced process monitoring and control.
 

IDBS extends validated service to the cloud
 
BOSTON & GUILDFORD, U.K.—After the E-WorkBook Cloud launch earlier this year, IDBS has now enhanced its capabilities by adding a prequalified service to the suite, which has been designed to help organizations streamline their compliance processes for good practice (GxP) regulated systems. It is called the E-WorkBook GxP Cloud.
 
“IDBS’ E-WorkBook GxP Cloud reduces the customer’s time and cost to get up and running with a regulated system, putting them in a more comfortable position for decision-making, managing risk and in meeting validation objectives,” said Stuart Ward, head of business analysis at IDBS. “The benefits of IDBS’ E-WorkBook GxP Cloud include customers being able to reap all the rewards of a cloud-based system, whilst having a fully managed and documentation trail in the cloud service.”
 

Tosoh wins Excellence Award at Pittcon 2017
 
KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa.—Tosoh Bioscience LLC, a provider of chromatographic solutions for the separation of biomolecules, received a Bronze award for the TSKgel Protein A-5PW HPLC column in Pittcon Today’s first ever Excellence Awards. Pittcon Today’s Excellence Awards were designed to recognize innovations at the 2017 Pittcon Exposition.
 
“We are very excited that the judges from the Pittcon Today panel acknowledged the innovative capabilities of the TSKgel Protein A-5PW column and we are pleased to receive such an esteemed honor,” said Cara Tomasek, leader of the Product Management Group. “As the biopharma industry grows, more researchers will look for a product that can accomplish high throughput analysis since many harvest cell culture samples must be screened for IgG titer in early monoclonal antibody development.”
 

Scale-up manufacture of nanomedicines
 
VANCOUVER, British Columbia—Precision NanoSystems has launched the NanoAssemblr Scale-Up system to support the clinical development of nanomedicines. This latest addition to the NanoAssemblr range is designed for the manufacture of clinical trial material in GMP environments, and will support the production of novel medicines, including siRNA, mRNA and CRISPR/Cas9 therapeutics.
 
The NanoAssemblr Scale-Up system features the same proprietary microfluidic mixing technology as the company’s preclinical instruments—the NanoAssemblr Benchtop and Blaze.
 
“The NanoAssemblr Scale-Up system is designed to provide customers with a customizable, modular platform for the cGMP manufacture of high-quality nanomedicines,” said Ray Lockard, vice president of pharmaceutical operations at Precision NanoSystems. “By using the same underlying technology as the rest of the NanoAssemblr instrument portfolio, this will allow researchers to accelerate product development from discovery to the clinic and, ultimately, help to realize the potential for novel therapeutic modalities, such as genome editing and mRNA-mediated protein expression.”

Jeffrey Bouley

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