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Thermo Fisher and Biognosys to develop industry-leading mass spectrometry-based workflows for the efficient analysis of proteins in complex biological matrices

Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world leader in serving science, and Biognosys, a leading developer of next-generation proteomics solutions, will extend their long-standing collaboration to provide advanced data independent acquisition (DIA) mass spectrometry-based workflows for the reliable quantitation of target proteins in plasma and other body fluids. The workflows are used in applications across proteomics, clinical proteomics, translational research and pharmaceutical development.

Most recently, the collaboration has brought together the latest intelligence-driven mass spectrometry technology from Thermo Fisher with the PQ500 Plasma Quantitation kit from Biognosys, to develop a novel and highly efficient method: The Thermo Scientific SureQuant PQ500 method for analyzing plasma and other human body fluids. This method is supported on both the newThermo Scientific Orbitrap Exploris 480 mass spectrometer and Thermo Scientific Orbitrap Eclipse Tribrid mass spectrometer. The SureQuant internal standard-triggered PRM (IS-PRM) enables scientists to rapidly quantify 500 plasma proteins in a single workflow.

The relationship has also enabled the application of the mass spectrometry-based BoxCar scanning method to DIA for non-targeted, label-free quantitation. BoxCar is a technology developed by the group of Matthias Mann at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Munich that improves the dynamic range of plasma analysis. The extended collaboration with Biognosys will continue to focus on improving the efficiency of routine analysis of clinical samples and providing scientists access to advanced instrumental methods and workflows, plus new software functionality to rapidly and reliably process the complex datasets generated from DIA workflows.

"Rapidly evolving methods and technology have led to a renewed global interest in the analysis of plasma and tissue samples to support translational and clinical research initiatives, with an emphasis on streamlined workflows that can routinely deliver high quality data for large sample cohorts," said Ken Miller, vice president, life sciences mass spectrometry marketing, Thermo Fisher Scientific. "Our long-standing collaboration has resulted in the development of reliable, high-performance workflow options that will enable scientists to quantitatively profile complex samples using either targeted or untargeted approaches."

"For scientists who want to understand the human proteome, its role in disease and how it can influence the development of future medicines, looking at plasma – the primary component of our blood – is a great place to start," said Oliver Rinner, chief executive officer, Biognosys. "The next phase of our collaboration will progress the application of mass spectrometry-based plasma analysis with highly multiplexed accurate quantification in translational and clinical research, supporting the discovery of new biomarkers and drug targets."

The announcement of the renewed collaboration coincided with the 67th American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) Conference on Mass Spectrometry and Allied Topics, held June 2–6, where Thermo Fisher is showcased its latest innovations in the International Ballroom ABCD at the Omni CNN Center Hotel, Atlanta, Georgia. Results demonstrating the effectiveness of the BoxCar DIA scanning method was presented during an oral session as part of ASMS 2019 on Tuesday, June 4 in TOA, Building B at 3:10 pm EDT.

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