Applied Biosystems Proves Strength in Numbers Catapults Mass Spectrometry into 2007

The application of mass spectrometry to various new developments in such areas as drug discovery, forensic toxicology, amino acid analysis and food testing has given Applied Biosystems and its joint venture partner MDS SCIEX, a leader in mass spectrometry, new opportunities to expand its proven capabilities for performing small molecule analysis. Generating meaningful data on a timely basis with increased sensitivity is key to advancing these research objectives.

New Tools for Drug Discovery
Applied Biosystems/MDS SCIEX has increased its focus on new drug discovery applications in 2006 by introducing LightSight™ Software for Metabolite Identification, which enables pharmaceutical companies and contract research organizations to more quickly and accurately screen drug candidates.

New Tools for Amino Acid Analysis
When Applied Biosystems/MDS SCIEX introduced the Amino Acid 20/20™ Analyzer in late 2006, it took a significant step forward by delivering a LC/MS/MS system that is more than twice the speed of existing chromatography systems. The new system provides better separation of amino acids, including difficult-to-distinguish isobaric amino acids, which have identical masses. Moreover, the Amino Acid 20/20 Analyzer is based on the high-performance Applied Biosystems/MDS SCIEX triple quadrupole mass spectrometers and uses proprietary chemistry reagents called Applied Biosystems iTRAQ™ reagents, which provide a unique way to label the amino acids that are subsequently analyzed for accurate quantitation. The new system also incorporates the new Cliquid™ applications software, designed to make mass spectrometry-based applications easier to use.

New Tools for Food Analysis
Food testing technicians have also benefited from the adoption of mass spectrometry in food contaminant testing with a simple-to-use interface. Technicians no longer have to be experts in mass spectrometry to leverage the power of this analytical, data-driven technology. To this end, Applied Biosystems/MDS SCIEX introduced Cliquid™ Software for Food Testing several months ago as the industry’s first automated system for better detection of food contaminants, such as pesticides, dyes, mold-related toxins, and chemical and antibiotic residues.

Application Customer Support
While all of these products clearly address customer needs, one of the other facets that enhance the customer experience with Applied Biosystems is service. The company offers the Smart Monitoring Service. While connected to mass spectrometers remotely, the service proactively addresses potential problems before an issue would interrupt operations or cause delays in research plans.

With its commitment to customer support, Applied Biosystems also has a number of application support centers worldwide. Recently, the company opened the Shanghai Application Support Center. Like all of the global support centers, the Shanghai Application Support Center provides systematic training programs, demonstrates lab set-up and carries out fast response for urgent sample analysis requests.

Better accuracy, higher performance, increased ease of use, proactive customer service, and expanding relevancy and usefulness – with these qualities, mass spectrometry solutions from Applied Biosystems/MDS SCIEX increase productivity and enable confident results.