AB SCIEX and the University of Geneva's Mass Spectrometry Centre Collaborate to Improve Drug Discovery and Development

AB SCIEX announced that it is collaborating with the University of Geneva’s Mass Spectrometry Centre to create new workflows and analytical strategies intended to significantly improve drug discovery and development. This collaboration is focused on developing specific applications for use with a groundbreaking platform that will be the life science industry’s first mass spectrometry system to combine both qualitative and quantitative analysis at high resolution and high sensitivity with accurate mass. AB SCIEX will launch this system later this year.

Accurate mass measurement allows the elemental composition of a molecule to be determined, which is used within the life science industry to discover and identify compounds. Currently marketed accurate-mass systems have historically been limited to producing qualitative results. These systems cannot match the sensitivity and high speed required for quantitative analysis, which is often done separately using other instrumentation, which increases costs and delays results. AB SCIEX is uniquely combining qualitative and quantitative analysis with high resolution, speed and high sensitivity to greatly improve the quality and timeliness of the data pharmaceutical companies use to make decisions about drug discovery and development.

The University of Geneva’s Mass Spectrometry Centre, whose scientists are among the world’s leading experts in mass spectrometry-based pharmaceutical applications, is applying this innovative technology for metabolite identification. Metabolite identification is a critical application for studying the efficacy and safety of new chemical entities in the drug discovery and development pipeline, ranging from early drug discovery to clinical trials. By having the capabilities to simultaneously identify metabolites with high resolution accurate mass and quantify them with high sensitivity, the scientists in Geneva are assisting AB SCIEX in developing advanced workflows and software applications that are expected to help accelerate the adoption of the new platform within the pharmaceutical industry.

Highlights
* The AB SCIEX high-performance platform is being developed to combine high resolution, mass accuracy, sensitivity and speed. This unique platform will simplify and accelerate the transition from qualitative analysis to quantitative analysis within the same system for more conclusive results from complex samples.
* The AB SCIEX platform is expected to advance a number of mass spectrometry applications, such as metabolite identification for drug discovery and development; proteomics for protein and biomarker research; and general unknown screening of chemicals for food and environmental testing. The collaboration with the University of Geneva will help establish the step-by-step processes of analysis that will improve metabolism studies to generate the most complete data.
* AB SCIEX has a rich tradition of developing best-in-class mass spectrometry technology platforms.

The company pioneered mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (MS/MS) on a triple quadrupole, was the first to commercialize liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS), created time-of-flight/time-of-flight (TOF/TOF) mass spectrometry, and was the first to integrate a triple quadrupole and a linear ion trap on the same platform through the company’s QTRAP platform.

Gerard Hopfgartner, Ph.D., Professor and Scientist, University of Geneva’s Mass Spectrometry Centre says: “The new AB SCIEX accurate-mass technology is among the most important developments in mass spectrometry technologies in years. The ability to integrate qualitative and quantitative analysis within a single platform enables new and better ways to think about conducting experiments. By developing novel workflows to take advantage of the new platform, we will be able to better understand biological systems and improve the drug discovery process.”

Laura Lauman, President, AB SCIEX says:
“AB SCIEX is focused on bringing continuous innovation to the mass spectrometry market. The future launch of the world’s first high-resolution, accurate-mass system with high-sensitivity qualitative and quantitative workflows will represent a game-changing technology platform that will have significant impact in the ways scientists conduct mass spectrometry-based experiments. This new innovation, which is supported by strategies for metabolite identification developed in collaboration with the University of Geneva, will provide the pharmaceutical industry with a unique workflow solution to improve drug discovery and development.”