AB SCIEX Enables Laboratories to Standardize on Single Software Platform for Accelerating Validation with New Version of Analyst Software

AB SCIEX, a global leader in analytical technology, today announced a new version of Analyst® Software that joins all of the triple quadrupoles and QTRAP® systems in the company’s industry-leading portfolio of LC/MS/MS instruments, including add-on capabilities such as SelexION® Technology, which provides a new level of selectivity for analysis of compounds. This is expected to increase efficiency and lower costs for pharmaceutical companies.

The new software package brings all of the benefits of the evolution of Analyst Software ‒ one of the most widely used mass spectrometry software platforms in the pharmaceutical industry ‒ into a singular version that will enable lab managers to validate one piece of software for all instruments.

To remain competitive and productive, laboratories conducting regulated bioanalysis upgrade their instrumentation on a regular basis. Every time a new instrument is installed in a regulated laboratory, a new validation process is required. Having different versions of software for different triple quadrupole and ion trap instruments validated at different times adds complexity, which AB SCIEX is addressing with this software launch.

By standardizing on the new 64-bit Windows 7, 32-bit Windows 7 and 32-bit Windows XP-compatible version of Analyst Software, lab managers will now be in control of when their validation cycles occur. Analyst Software v1.6.2 also future-proofs a laboratory, simplifying the process of bringing a new instrument in-house.

A lab can more easily adopt, for example, the highest sensitivity instrument on the market, the recently-released AB SCIEX 6500 System, for quantitation while using the same version of software to manage the older generation TripleQuad 5500 and 4000 systems, which are workhorse instruments known for robustness and reliability.

“We work closely with many of the major pharmaceutical companies to ensure that we evolve our software to meet their needs for greater efficiency and less complexity,” said Joe Fox, Senior Director of the Pharma Business Unit at AB SCIEX. “The new Analyst Software is the first version to marry all of our triple quadrupoles and trap instruments on one software platform. Early feedback from customers, especially those interested in the 6500 series, is that this version of Analyst Software is going to make life easier for them going forward.”

Analyst Software meets the requirements of regulated lab environments with enhanced security, electronic signatures and field-tested compliant components as well as customizable settings and automated network acquisition capabilities. The administration console provides multi-instrument project-wide security from a single computer. In addition, the software’s audit map allows each laboratory to configure the audit trail based on specific needs, preventing unnecessary or redundant event capture.

For those laboratories that are interested in assistance to facilitate the validation process, AB SCIEX offers Compliance and Validation Services to meet the most stringent requirements of the pharmaceutical industry. This service offering provides a range of comprehensive validation and qualifications services, including software validation, along with HPLC IQ-OQ,MS IQ-OQ, and LC-MS PQ ‒ a system function test that confirms performance of the MS, LC, and software together.

The company draws from its rich heritage of working with pharmaceutical companies and regulatory agencies accustomed to Analyst Software. AB SCIEX was the first LC/MS provider to be 21 CFR Part 11 compliant more than a decade ago and has had a long-established leadership position in small molecule quantitation for regulated bioanalytical labs.

Analyst Software v1.6.2 also offers added benefits for laboratories engaged in biomarker and omics research, food and environmental testing, forensic toxicology screening and clinical research applications. The new Analyst software provides significant improvements to the Scheduled MRM™ Algorithm ‒ renamed ‘Scheduled MRM™ Pro’ ‒ enabling our users to have more control over their data acquisition parameters to significantly improve the quality of their data, particularly for quantitation of low-level compounds and when using unique scan functions on QTRAP® systems.