Author: Kristy Licari

Introducing LESA™ Clarity for AB SCIEX Mass Spec Systems

ITHACA, NY, USA, May 2, 2011 — Advion BioSystems, Inc. (Advion), the developer and manufacturer of the TriVersa NanoMate®, the world’s first chip-based nanoelectrospray ion source for mass spectrometry, and AB SCIEX, a global leader in life science analytical technologies, today announced the launch of the LESA™ Clarity for AB SCIEX Mass Spec Systems. The LESA Clarity is part of an on-going collaboration between Advion, AB SCIEX and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), and offers additional functionality and ease-of-use to the commercially successful Liquid Extraction Surface Analysis (LESA) sample analysis system introduced in March 2010.

LESA Clarity is well-suited for researchers developing novel drugs, new forensic tools, better biofuels, improvements in food safety and technologies to strengthen homeland security, among others. LESA Clarity offers new capabilities that increase performance and unrivalled ease-of-use for AB SCIEX mass spectrometry users. A real-time high definition camera system has been added for viewing the solvent droplet interaction with the surface, simplifying method development while enabling fine control. LESA Clarity also integrates Analyst®, an AB SCIEX software platform, and ChipSoft®, the TriVersa NanoMate software, allowing researchers to operate the system from a single computer with one sample batch queue. As a result, all data is stored in a single file.

“LESA Clarity is yet another advancement to the well-established capabilities of the TriVersa NanoMate and LESA technology. This demonstrates Advion’s commitment to scientific excellence, yielding more information and enabling higher throughput,” stated David B. Patteson, CEO of Advion. “Advion and AB SCIEX have had a joint marketing agreement since 2003 as part of Advion’s global initiative to introduce the benefits of automated nanoESI through strategic alliances. This collaboration helps both companies continue to bring the latest technologies to our combined customers.”

The TriVersa NanoMate with LESA technology operates by positioning a disposable pipette tip above a preselected location on the sample, and delivers a droplet of solvent into contact with the surface of any planar sample, thereby extracting the analytes. The analyte-rich droplet is retracted into the pipette tip and delivered to the back of the 400-nozzle ESI Chip® using Advion’s nanoESI’s long, stable spray times for deeper MS analysis. The sampling locations are built into a batch queue for subsequent automatic analysis. Complementary information to DESI, DART and MALDI is yielded.

LESA was developed at ORNL (V. Kertesz, G. J. Van Berkel, J. Mass. Spectrom., Mar. 2010) to bring the benefits of nanoelectrospray/mass spectrometry (nanoESI/MS) to surface analysis and to automate surface sampling for faster, more effective analysis. LESA provides direct mass spectrometric analysis without the need for sample preparation in a variety of sample formats including tissue and organ samples, Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) plates, MALDI plates, and other planar surfaces with extractable analytes. The direct analysis of surfaces by mass spectrometry is a growing and powerful technique. LESA Clarity is designed for exclusive use with AB SCIEX’s industry-leading mass spectrometers.

“This technology allows researchers to extract analytes from a variety of samples and infuse them at nanoflow rates to take advantage of the high sensitivity and broad compound coverage that is characteristic of this mode of ionization,” said Dr. Tom Covey, a principal research scientist with AB SCIEX. “Researchers using LESA Clarity for AB SCIEX Mass Spec Systems will now be able to incorporate the most advanced, commercial surface analysis techniques into their laboratories.”

About Advion BioSystems, Inc.
Advion is the scientific leader in microfluidic systems. The company’s scientific knowledge-base creates unique nanotechnologies delivering speed, flexibility, and exceptional data quality. Advion is the microfluidics supplier of choice for customers demanding scientific excellence, more information from complex samples, and greater throughput. More about the company can be found at www.advion.com.

For Advion BioSystems, Inc.
Amy Boardman
Manager of Corporate Marketing Communications
Advion BioSciences, Inc.
Telephone: 1.607.266.0665, ext. 331
aboardman@advion.com

About AB SCIEX
AB SCIEX is a global leader in the development of life science analytical technologies that help answer complex scientific challenges. The company provides scientific instrumentation, software and services used to discover new drugs, advance medical science and protect the food supply and the environment. AB SCIEX technology solutions combine the highest performance with the highest reliability to enable our customers to fuel scientific discovery, deliver results with confidence and improve the quality of life. The company has a more than 20-year history of innovation and market leadership as the former Applied Biosystems/MDS Analytical Technologies joint venture. For more information about AB SCIEX, go to www.absciex.com. Follow AB SCIEX on Twitter @ABSCIEX and on Facebook.

For AB SCIEX
Anthony Petrucci
Public Relations
Telephone: 508.383.7961
anthony.petrucci@absciex.com

INDIANAPOLIS and ITHACA, NY – March 1, 2011 – Advion BioServices, a subsidiary of Advion BioSciences, Inc. and a leading bioanalytical contract research organization, today announced plans to open a 22,000 square-foot drug discovery bioanalytical laboratory. The new laboratory will be located in the Purdue Research Park of Indianapolis’ technology center at the Ameriplex Business Park near the Indianapolis International Airport. Advion will hire local talent to fill scientific and administrative positions at the facility. The laboratory is expected to be fully operational by the end of May 2011.

Headquartered in Ithaca, NY, Advion BioServices’ primary focus is to provide high-quality, later stage bioanalytical drug development services as required by global regulatory agencies, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

At the new Indianapolis facility, Advion will focus on the earlier stage, drug discovery bioanalytical services which evaluate how a potential new medicine is absorbed and metabolized in experimental models. Many of these services that will be performed at the new site are data generation activities required for the preparation of a molecule’s entry into clinical testing.

Building on its existing partnership, Advion has also entered into a new, multi-year contract with Lilly to provide a variety of these services that will be conducted at the new facility. As part of the agreement, Lilly will transition its drug discovery bioanalytical capability to Advion. All Lilly employees impacted by this decision will have the opportunity to join Advion. Financial terms of the transaction are not being disclosed.

“Our company’s consistent growth and success has been the direct result of close customer partnerships,” said David B. Patteson, President and CEO of Advion BioSciences, Inc. “The establishment of this laboratory in Indianapolis further strengthens our relationship with Lilly as a key partner in bioanalytical services while positioning Advion to be one of the largest and most-respected bioanalytical service providers in North America.”

Advion’s expansion into Indianapolis was made possible in part by assistance provided through the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC). IEDC offers a centralized resource for organizations looking to establish a presence in Indiana. Support from IEDC has streamlined many of the processes for Advion in establishing this new Indianapolis facility. Additional assistance was provided by BioCrossroads, Indiana’s initiative for investment, development and advancement of the state’s signature life sciences strengths.

“Drug discovery bioanalytical services in Indianapolis are a strategic complement to the regulated drug development bioanalytical services in our Ithaca, New York, and Manassas, Virginia laboratories. Advion has always upheld the highest standards of scientific rigor and looks forward to establishing a center-of-excellence for discovery bioanalytical services in Indianapolis,” said Tom Kurz, President of Advion BioServices, Inc. “In addition to providing these services to Lilly, we are very pleased with the prospect of offering these services to our other clients, and see this as a significant opportunity to further grow this business and expand the size of our Indianapolis operation in the future.”

About Advion BioServices, Inc.
Advion is a scientific leader in bioanalytical LC/MS services, in vitro assays, and immunoassay services. Advion offers a range of GLP-compliant and discovery bioanalytical services including LC/MS/MS for the determination of small molecule drugs, macromolecule therapies, and biomarkers, immunoassay services, ADME screening, cytochrome P450 inhibition and induction study support, metabolism profiling, metabolite identification, sample management, and sample storage. The company is the laboratory of choice for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in pursuit of scientific excellence.

Additional information about Advion is available at www.advion.com.

For Advion:
Amy Boardman
Manager of Corporate Marketing Communications
Advion BioSciences, Inc.
607.266.0665 ext. 331
aboardman@advion.com

ITHACA, NY, USA – November 9, 2010 — Advion BioSystems, Inc. announced that its NanoTek Microfluidic Synthesis System was featured in two poster presentations at the annual meeting of the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM), held last month in Vienna, Austria.

The annual EANM meeting is the premier venue in Europe that brings together researchers and professionals from all areas of nuclear medicine. This year, two NanoTek users presented their work, and highlighted the benefits of using a microfluidic synthesis system for radiolabeling. Johanna Ungersboeck from the Medical University of Vienna, presented a direct comparison between the NanoTek system and a conventional radiosynthesis module. The NanoTek delivered 79% radiochemical yield compared to only 33% with the conventional system. In the conclusion the researchers noted, “We have shown that significantly higher radiochemical yields can be achieved when applying microfluidic chemistry in the preparation of [18F]FE@SUPPY.”

Bram Maas from the University Medical Center Groningen, the Netherlands presented results of a synthesis for F-18 FAZA, an exciting new tracer for in-vivo measurement of hypoxia, utilizing the NanoTek. Mr. Maas concluded, “Online optimization of the radiosynthesis using several parameters was a great advance to create rapid insight of the fluorination step and can rapidly be translated to production scale.”

Positron emission tomography (PET), which uses specific biomarkers labeled with small amounts of radioactivity, is a powerful technique used in both clinical diagnostic medicine and in advanced medical research and pharmaceutical development. The core technology of the NanoTek system, microfluidic flow chemistry, has proven to be an attractive alternative to conventional vial-based chemistry for the labeling of these biomarkers. The technique offered by the NanoTek provides many advantages such as reduced reaction times and higher radiochemical yields as demonstrated by its users.

About Advion BioSystems, Inc.
Advion is the scientific leader in microfluidic systems. The company’s scientific knowledge base creates unique nanotechnologies delivering speed, flexibility, and exceptional data quality. Advion is the microfluidics supplier of choice for customers demanding scientific excellence, more information from complex samples, and greater throughput. More about the company can be found at www.advion.com.

ITHACA, NY – October 20, 2010 — Advion BioServices announces the addition of clopidogrel, plus its active metabolite and its inactive carboxylic acid metabolite, to its list of validated LC/MS methods. The addition was made this month due to market demand for this bioanalytical method which few CROs offer. Clopidogrel, commonly known as Plavix, is used to prevent blood clots that can lead to heart attacks and strokes. According to the Mayo Clinic, heart disease is the number one killer of men and women worldwide, and the primary form of treatment is a prescribed oral medicine such as clopidogrel. When a drug is commonly prescribed and often co-administered, it is important for pharmaceutical companies and doctors to understand how the drugs will interact with other classes of drugs by conducting crossover comparison studies. This is especially important for drugs such as clopidogrel, where the active form of the drug is generated by cytochrome P450-mediated biotransformation. Advion is one of a few contract research organizations in the world offering bioanalytical assays specific for clopidogrel to support these studies.

A full list of Advion’s validated LC/MS and immunoassay methods to support drug-drug interactions or comparative studies is available on its website.

About Advion BioServices, Inc.
Advion is a scientific leader in bioanalytical and immunoassay services. Advion offers a range of GLP-compliant and discovery support services including bioanalytical LC/MS/MS, LC/MS biomarker analysis, immunoassay, dose formulation analysis, P450 inhibition study support, sample management, and sample storage. The company is the laboratory of choice for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in pursuit of scientific excellence.

More information about the company can be found on its website www.advion.com.

For Advion:
Amy Boardman
Manager of Corporate Marketing Communications
1.607.266.0665
aboardman@advion.com

ITHACA, NY, October 20 – Advion BioSystems, Inc., the developer and manufacturer of the TriVersa NanoMate®, the world’s first chip-based nanoelectrospray ion source for mass spectrometry, announces the unveiling of LESA Points software, a planned user enhancement to the system. LESA offers direct surface analysis without the need for sample preparation from TLC plates, tissue slices, MALDI plates, dried blood spots and any other planar surface with extractable analytes. Benefits of the system include more information from complex samples, time-savings, and increased sensitivity. LESA is a recent addition to the capability of Advion’s flexible TriVersa NanoMate platform, an automated ion source allowing researchers to load their samples and automatically deliver them to a mass spectrometer for analysis.

User benefits of the LESA Points product release include allowing the user to scan the sample and select specific surface assay point(s) of analysis on the computer screen. The sampling locations are built into a batch file for subsequent automatic analysis. LESA Points automates the complete operation, offering increased accuracy and resolution with greatly increased ease of use for simple, direct surface analysis.

The update is available now free-of-charge to existing customers, and will be bundled in all new purchases. Contact Advion’s service and support group for information about obtaining the update.

About Advion BioSystems, Inc.
Advion is the scientific leader in microfluidic systems. The company’s scientific knowledge base creates unique nanotechnologies delivering speed, flexibility, and exceptional data quality. Advion is the microfluidics supplier of choice for customers demanding scientific excellence, more information from complex samples, and greater throughput. More about the company can be found at www.advion.com.

Earlier this year, Advion announced a new capability for its TriVersa NanoMate® – Liquid Extraction Surface Analysis (LESA™). LESA™ was developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (V. Kertesz, G.J. Van Berkel, J. Mass Spectrom, Mar 2010) to bring the benefits of nanoESI/MS to surface analysis and to automate surface sampling for faster, more effective analyses.

On September 16th, Advion hosted a webinar presented by Dr. Tom Covey, a principal research scientist with AB SCIEX, to more fully explain the new LESA capabilities and benefits. Although Dr. Covey focused his presentation on small molecule applications, LESA is also ideal for proteomic and lipid research. Advion’s chief scientific officer, Jack Henion, moderated the event and fielded many engaging participant questions.

The TriVersa NanoMate with LESA begins by aspirating solvent from a reservoir within the instrument into a pipette tip. The robot then positions the pipette tip above a preselected location on the sample and brings a droplet of the solvent into contact with the surface of the sample, thereby extracting the analytes. The analyte-rich droplet is retracted into the pipette tip and delivered to the back of the ESI Chip for nanoESI/MS analysis.

The tissue analysis technique saves time because it eliminates sample homogenization and result averaging. A researcher can sample directly from the tissue slices, enabling spatial information by sampling from multiple spots within the body or individual organ, and nanoESI’s long, stable spray times allow for deeper MS analysis. Complementary information to DESI, DART and MALDI is also yielded.

With the addition of LESA to the TriVersa NanoMate’s existing capabilities – automated nanoelectrospray and LC/MS fraction collection – researchers have more opportunities to investigate their samples and gain insight from more information.

The LESA capability is available as an upgrade to all previously installed TriVersa NanoMates as well as an option on new purchases, and is compatible with the majority of mass spectrometers.

View the recorded webinar and full presentation.

About Advion BioSystems, Inc.
Advion is the scientific leader in microfluidic systems. The company’s scientific knowledge base creates unique nanotechnologies delivering speed, flexibility, and exceptional data quality. Advion is the microfluidics supplier of choice for customers demanding scientific excellence, more information from complex samples, and greater throughput. More about the company can be found at www.advion.com.

ITHACA, NY, USA, March 1, 2010 — Advion BioSystems, Inc. (Advion) announces the launch of its Liquid Extraction Surface Analysis (LESA) sample analysis system. LESA, based on Advion’s chip-based nanoelectrospray platform, the TriVersa NanoMate®, will be used to provide direct Mass Spectrometric analysis of a variety of sample formats including tissue and organ samples, Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) plates, MALDI plates, and Dried Blood Spots (DBS).

The direct analysis of surfaces by mass spectrometry is a growing and powerful technique. The novel approach and design of the Advion LESA system enables, for the first time, the ability to couple direct analysis of surfaces with the power and breadth of chip-based nanoelectrospray. This simple-to-use combination allows for soft ionization, thereby preserving fragile molecules such as phase 2 metabolites and allowing unrivalled detection of drugs and their metabolites in tissue and organ samples. Researchers developing new forensic tools, novel drugs, better biofuels and technologies to strengthen homeland security now have a powerful new tool to use to analyze a variety of surfaces.

The new system was developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), a multiprogram science and technology laboratory managed for the U.S. Department of Energy by UT-Battelle, which exclusively licensed the technology to AB SCIEX, a global leader in life science analytical technologies. In parallel, Advion signed an exclusive sublicense agreement with DH Technologies Development Pte. Ltd., an AB SCIEX affiliate, to commercialize certain discoveries and pending patents that leverage the Advion TriVersa NanoMate product lines used in the ORNL research in conjunction with AB SCIEX mass spectrometers.

“The launch of this innovative sample analysis system is extremely strategic for our company,” said David B. Patteson, CEO of Advion. “This is the result of our working closely with ORNL and AB SCIEX dating back nearly seven years to early discussions between Jack Henion – our Chairman and CSO – and our partners. We expect significant impact from our customers applying this technique to a myriad of sample types and conditions, which to date have been difficult to assay.”

About Advion BioSystems, Inc.
Advion is the scientific leader in microfluidic systems. The company’s scientific knowledge base creates unique nanotechnologies delivering speed, flexibility, and exceptional data quality. Advion is the microfluidics supplier of choice for customers demanding scientific excellence, more information from complex samples, and greater throughput. More about the company can be found at www.advion.com.

For Advion:
Heather Scollins
Sr. Marketing Communication Specialist
Advion BioSciences, Inc.
p: 1.607.266.0665 ext. 333
hscollins@advion.com

ITHACA, NY, USA, February 5, 2010 — Advion BioSystems, Inc. (Advion) announced the issuance of U.S. patent No. 7641860 for their reconfigurable multistage microreactor cartridge apparatus, a key module of the Advion NanoTek Microfluidic Synthesis System (NanoTek), which is primarily used by leading Positron Emission Tomography (PET) radiochemists around the world.

PET, which uses specific biomarkers labeled with small amounts of radioactivity, is a powerful technique used in both clinical diagnostic medicine and in advanced medical research and pharmaceutical development. The core technology of the NanoTek system, microfluidic flow chemistry, has proven to be an attractive alternative to conventional vial-based chemistry for radiochemical labeling. The advantages include reduced reaction times and higher radiochemical yields. Researchers who have utilized the NanoTek system in their labs report the ability to conduct multiple sequential syntheses from one delivery of radioisotope, greatly accelerating the optimization of new compounds.

Andy Holley, NanoTek Product Manager, states, “This component enables our users to rapidly reconfigure the NanoTek system for different syntheses. We are pleased that this innovative technology has been recognized and is now protected by the granting of this patent.”

Jack Henion, Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Advion added, “Advion is proud of our track record in innovative research. The granting of this patent is yet one more confirmation of our leadership in microfluidic technology.”

About Advion BioSystems, Inc.
Advion is the scientific leader in microfluidic systems. The company’s scientific knowledge base creates unique nanotechnologies delivering speed, flexibility, and exceptional data quality. Advion is the microfluidics supplier of choice for customers demanding scientific excellence, more information from complex samples, and greater throughput. More about the company can be found at www.advion.com.

For Advion:
Heather Scollins
Sr. Marketing Communication Specialist
Advion BioSciences, Inc.
p: 1.607.266.0665 ext. 333
hscollins@advion.com

September 9, 2009 – Ithaca , NY – Advion BioServices, Inc., a leading contract research organization serving pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners worldwide, today announced the expansion of its existing LC/MS Biomarker Services Group. The expansion comes in response to increased interest from leading pharmaceutical companies in the use of biomarkers as cost-effective indicators of pharmacological response to drugs. The company will assign an increased commitment of staffing, Thermo Scientific and Applied Biosystems mass spectrometers, liquid chromatography and automated liquid handling systems to this service.

At the forefront of the contract research industry, Advion originally launched its LC/MS Biomarker Services Group in 2008 to complement its ligand-binding services. Since then, the group has developed and delivered to its clients unique, fit-for-purpose assays for peptide, amino acid, lipid, neurotransmitter, and nucleotide biomarkers. These methods, from exploratory to definitive quantitation assays, are customized to client requirements and have proven a popular approach for supporting a wide range of biomarker programs.

“Expansion of our LC/MS Biomarker Services Group reflects an increasing demand for biomarker methods as companion assays to other bioanalytical approaches needed for the development of new drugs,” says Dr. Stephen Lowes , Advion BioServices’ Senior Vice President, Science. “The FDA has acknowledged that biomarkers can help pharmaceutical companies streamline expensive, later-phase clinical trials by using fewer subjects or patients. Our extensive experience with mass spectrometry, immunoassays, and sample management means that we can meet the need for rapid biomarker assay development, validation, and sample analysis. The customer demand for LC/MS biomarker assays has made this an exciting time for the company.”

Under the direction of Dr. Lowes, the group is led by Dr. Gary Schultz , Senior Director, Biomarkers, who has played a key role at Advion in developing innovative tools and methods for biomarker analysis including the ESI Chip® , TriVersa NanoMate® , and RePlay® proteomics system.

About Advion BioServices, Inc.
Advion is a scientific leader in bioanalytical and immunoassay services. Advion offers a range of GLP-compliant and discovery support services including bioanalytical LC/MS/MS, LC/MS biomarker analysis, immunoassay, dose formulation analysis, P450 inhibition study support, sample management, and sample storage. The company is the laboratory of choice for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in pursuit of scientific excellence.

For more information on the Biomarker Services Group, please call 1-607-266-0665, email info@advion.com or visit http://www.quintiles.com/clinical-services/bioanalytical-laboratories/biomarker-services/. More information about the company can be found on its website www.advion.com.

For Advion:
Heather Scollins
Senior Marketing Communication Specialist
Advion BioSciences, Inc.
P: 1.607.266.0665 ext. 333
hscollins@advion.com