The first Pharma User Club meeting organized by Granutools was successfully held on January 26th, 2022. More than 200 attendees joined this virtual meeting, which was the perfect occasion to hear renowned speakers, join a large and diverse community, and network. The talks covered a wide range of subjects and aspects of the pharmaceutical industry and academy: from lactose excipients to APIs, from flowability to electrostatics, from feedstock to production lines, from process simulation to model calibration...
INTEGRA Biosciences’ VOYAGER adjustable tip spacing pipettes save time and improve lab productivity, and the company has created a testimonial video showcasing the pipette’s many useful features. The video shows how the VOYAGER increases productivity using a real-life situation, portraying how researchers at the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Montpellier, France, are using it to study the dynamics of the latent HIV reservoir and investigate drug-resistant mutations...
Simplified calculation model for tissue properties developed at Karl Landsteiner University for Health Sciences Krems (Austria). Viscous mechanical properties of biological tissues can now be described more easily than before. This is shown by a recently published paper of a team of the Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences Krems. The team demonstrates that an established mathematical model for soft biological tissues can be greatly simplified, allowing extensive time and cost savings...
EVONETIX LTD the synthetic biology company bringing semiconductor technology to DNA synthesis, has announced it has achieved enzymatic DNA synthesis capability with its proprietary, thermally controlled synthesis chemistry. The culmination of a three-year development program, supported by Innovate UK and in collaboration with Durham University, the results demonstrate that Evonetix’s unique, semiconductor array-based platform is compatible with both chemical and enzymatic DNA synthesis...
BioChromato has published a technical note that compares using Evolved Gas Analysis (EGA) and Thermal Desorption (DART) sample preparation methods for Mass Spectrometry analysis of Nylon 6,6. Synthesized by polycondensation of hexamethylenediamine and adipic acid – Nylon 6,6 is a polyamide or nylon that is commonly used in the textile and plastic industries. Nylon 6,6 is a polymer of choice when high mechanical strength, rigidity, good stability under heat and/or chemical resistance are required....
“Automation and industrialization of COVID-19 PCR-testing will facilitate an immense scale-up of the global PCR-testing capacity. It will allow for a new approach to keep society open: preventive, regular testing (twice per week), which will create green bubbles and get us ahead of the curve” - Niels Kruize, CCO, MolGen. To get ahead of the curve, we will need to change our methodology of COVID-19 testing...
Microbiome DX company Genetic Analysis AS (“GA”) and Institut für Medizinische Diagnostik (“IMD”), a part of the Medicover Group, announces that IMD has launched the GA-map® Dysbiosis Test in Germany. IMD will activate its new Microbiome laboratory in February 2022 and add standardized microbiota testing to its existing test portfolio of products. This new Microbiota test offering will be marketed to customers in Germany and Europe...
A 'waste collection' tidies up our cells. If something does not go according to plan, serious diseases such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson's may develop. Molecular biologist Sascha Martens from the University of Vienna together with international partners – researchers of the University of Pennsylvania, Monash University, the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics in Frankfurt and the UC Berkeley – investigate the associated process: autophagy...
NHS guidelines for gene testing miss half of people carrying inherited genetic changes linked to cancer, a new study reports. Scientists assessed patients who received testing in the private sector to see who would have been eligible for a genetic test under the NHS – and what the consequences would have been of missing testing. The team at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, found that applying NHS guidelines for gene testing would have excluded many people...
Agilent Technologies Inc. announce that researchers from the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Brisbane, Australia, collaborated with Agilent experts on a proof-of-concept FTIR-based saliva COVID-19 testing workflow using the Agilent Cary 630 FTIR Spectrometer. The study investigated the pathophysiological response to a COVID-19 infection through ATR-FTIR spectroscopy....
The Pistoia Alliance, a global, not-for-profit alliance that advocates for greater collaboration in life sciences R&D, is announcing the launch of a new project on the microbiome, which could help speed up the advancement of new, precision medicines and treatments. The project – funded by Bayer, BMS, Eagle Genomics, Pfizer, Roche and Takeda – aims to incorporate microbiome data into the drug development pipeline by gathering all existing microbiome data to create a global standardized ‘atlas’ that scientists can refer to when choosing new drug candidates...
Reduced transfer steps and fast pipetting for bacteriocin testing. Researchers at NOMAD Bioscience GmbH, a German R&D company specializing in plant biotechnology, are taking advantage of the remarkable liquid handling capabilities of INTEGRA’s VOYAGER adjustable tip spacing pipette for the preparation and dispensing of media and gels. Research scientist Birgit Koch explained how she uses the VOYAGER in her work...
Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world leader in serving science, and Symphogen, an affiliate of and the antibody center of excellence within the international pharmaceutical company Servier, announce the continuation of their collaboration to provide biopharmaceutical discovery and development laboratories with innovative tools and streamlined workflows for efficient characterization of complex therapeutic proteins...
As part of its continuing commitment to laboratory informatics education for laboratory personnel worldwide, Autoscribe Informatics has made available a recent webinar entitled “Justifying the Purchase of a LIMS.” Ideal for laboratory professionals purchasing or upgrading a Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) it is especially useful for those about to embark for the first time on the journey of selecting a LIMS for their laboratory.
World first: Human Cell Design has developed maturation process to obtain unlimited quantity of functional human cellssimilar in every respect to native human cells. Human Cell Design (formerly Univercell-Biosolutions), a biotechnology company focused on generating translational human cellular models, announces the launch of Endoc-BH5®, the fifth version of its model of ready-to-use, > 99% pure population of functional human pancreatic beta cells available in unlimited quantities...
ZEISS recently caught up with the team from the Mostowy Lab at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK. Watch the video below to hear how their ZEISS Celldiscoverer 7 has transformed the way they carry out research across the entire lab - from streamlining workflows to standardising results. ZEISS Celldiscoverer 7 is your automated microscope for live cell imaging, combining the ease-of-use of an automated high-end imaging system with the image quality and flexibility of a classic inverted research microscope...
The research neutron source Hein Maier-Leibnitz (FRM II) at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) is playing an important role in the investigation of mRNA nanoparticles similar to the ones used in the Covid-19 vaccines from vendors BioNTech and Pfizer. Researchers at the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ) used the high neutron flux available in Garching to characterize various formulations for the mRNA vaccine and thus to lay the groundwork for improving the vaccine's efficacy...
Asynt reports how AM Technology Ltd (Runcorn, UK) has used its ReactoMate ATOM lab reactor support stand to enhance the speed and ease of switching reaction vessels feeding their Coflore® flow chemistry system. Martin Monedero, principal chemist at AMT, commented "Our Coflore flow systems are designed to be as versatile as possible, enabling users to optimise feed vessel set up according to the requirements of a particular reaction. For users to be able to swap reaction vessels quickly and easily is a significant benefit...
Biobanking is a critical facility in many drug discovery, pathology, and personalized medicine organisations. It enables researchers to effectively manage biological sample collections in an easily accessible repository. Unfortunately, while smaller biobanks and biorepositories still need to select tubes from cold racks straight from the freezer, they cannot necessarily afford the significant investment in robotics to fully automate the picking and placing of sample storage tubes from racks..
In December 2021, ZEISS entered a strategic partnership with the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology (KIR) and the Institute of Developmental and Regenerative Medicine (IDRM), developing the Oxford-ZEISS Centre of Excellence (Oxford-ZCoE). The Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology (KIR) is a world-leading medical research centre where discovery research drives development of transformative therapies for chronic inflammatory and degenerative disease....
Asynt reports how the Process Intensification Group, within the School of Engineering at Newcastle University, UK is using the MultiCell-PLUS High-Pressure Reactor as part of their program of ongoing research to create a new environmentally friendly generation of catalysts for production of biorenewable chemicals. Many industrial processes rely on catalysts containing expensive precious and metals, or metals sourced from areas of conflict...
Biotechnology company Ingenza is excited to report the successful conclusion to its recent six-month project with Johnson Matthey, a speciality chemicals and sustainable technologies supplier. Together, the companies have developed new, efficient approaches for the production of industrially-relevant enzymes – including cytochrome P450 – through judicious selection of suitable microbial hosts...