Invitrogen Selects SSi Robotics FLASH™ Platform for Advanced Automation

SSi Robotics today announced that Invitrogen Corporation chose SSi Robotics to design and build a FLASH™ system that would integrate various instrumentation for Invitrogen’s SelectScreen™ Profiling and Screening Services Platform.

Invitrogen’s service offering helps overcome recognized bottlenecks in drug discovery by providing timely, cost-effective determination of the inhibitory profile and mechanism of action of lead drug compounds. The system is scheduled for delivery and installation in April, 2006.

“We chose to move forward with the SSi Robotics FLASH™ system to meet our expanding SelectScreen™ services and the demands for advanced automation. We considered numerous vendors to provide a fully integrated compound management system capable of cherry picking, serial diluting, and arraying compounds,” said Tammy Turek-Etienne, HTS Manager of Invitrogen’s SelectScreen™ Services. “As our services business continues to grow, utilizing SSi’s innovative automation solutions will increase our throughput capabilities, ultimately benefiting our screening customers.”

“We are delighted that Invitrogen found SSi Robotics provided them the best options for its compound management needs,” said Paul Smith, President of SSi Robotics. “Our FLASH™ 6-axis automation system provides both dynamic and static scheduling as well as data management in a customized configuration designed to meet each customer’s unique processes.”

Invitrogen’s SelectScreen™ platform integrates industry leading target class content and state-of-the-art bioassay technologies to support lead discovery and optimization programs. Invitrogen’s expertise in protein kinase biology is the foundation of the SelectScreen™ service platform, which now offers pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies around the world the opportunity to screen lead compounds, SAR series or focused libraries against more than 193 kinases in less than two weeks.

“In 2006 we will continue to build our collaborative screening capabilities to better support and align with our customer’s discovery workflows” said Chris Armstrong, Director, Customer Programs at Invitrogen Drug Discovery Solutions. “This investment in our SelectScreen™ platform will enable us to achieve this through expansion of our kinase screening programs and through the launch of novel screening services.”