SAN JOSE, Calif.— Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world leader in serving science, and the Biopharmaceutical Analysis Training Laboratory (BATL) at Northeastern University, have entered into a collaborative agreement in a bid to advance analytical capabilities and drive innovation across the biopharmaceutical industry in areas including personalized medicine, monoclonal antibodies and gene and cell therapies.
BATL’s globally-recognized technical training programs for regulators, industry personnel and academics, complemented by Thermo Fisher’s leading ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS) technology, will facilitate the development of cutting-edge analytical solutions and delivery of training designed to meet the current needs of the industry. The implementation of the Thermo Scientific Orbitrap Exploris 240 mass spectrometer and Thermo Scientific Vanquish Duo UHPLC System within BATL’s state-of-the-art training facility will offer the accuracy, precision and reliability required to analyze the complex molecules defining the medicines of the future. Utilizing the power of these analytical systems, researchers at BATL will be in a position to develop robust, business need-driven, chromatography-based workflows for the streamlined analysis of biotherapeutics and share these methods across the industry to drive analytical advancements.
“In the last few decades we’ve seen the development of novel biotherapies, such as gene therapies and personalized medicines, to treat a myriad of diseases, and this level of innovation within the biopharmaceutical industry continues to grow,” said Eric Grumbach, director, biopharma/pharma, chromatography and mass spectrometry, Thermo Fisher Scientific. “With new therapies, there comes a need for forward-looking analytical techniques and methods to deliver the sensitivity and accuracy required to ensure the safety and efficacy of drugs. Our collaboration with BATL will provide biopharmaceutical organizations with the analytical solutions required to answer groundbreaking scientific questions, while still meeting regulations and optimizing their operations.”
Jared Auclair, associate dean of professional programs and graduate affairs and director of the Biopharmaceutical Analysis Training Laboratory said, “Our progressive training programs focus on the science- and risk-based evaluation of therapeutics, allowing scientists to reduce the regulatory burden and deliver potentially lifesaving drugs to patients more quickly. This collaboration with Thermo Fisher not only provides us with the analytical power we need from our instruments, but also allows us to drive the development of valuable biopharmaceutical characterization and monitoring workflows to address the ever- evolving analysis needs within the industry.”
BATL has implemented the Orbitrap Exploris 240 mass spectrometer because of the system’s proven ability to meet the requirements of late-stage biopharmaceutical developers for superior application flexibility, improved accuracy, operational simplicity and rapid turnaround times. The Orbitrap Exploris 240 mass spectrometer is a natural choice for BATL, which typically works across an extensive range of samples of varying characteristics, due to the system’s ability to deliver consistent results regardless of sample complexity. Additionally, BATL selected the Vanquish Duo UHPLC System for its ability to be operated in tandem mode, eliminating wait time for column equilibration, thereby further accelerating biopharmaceutical analyses.
