Waters Unveils New Mass Spectrometry Systems

SEATTLE, Wash., May 29, 2006 – Waters Corporation’s (NYSE:WAT) long-standing commitment to innovation in the field of mass spectrometry (MS) has never been more evident than at this year’s 54 th American Society of Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) Conference on Mass Spectrometry, May 28 – June 1. Waters is introducing a host of new products aimed at improving productivity in the analytical and research laboratories.

 

Waters is bringing out new technology intended to push out the boundaries of MS. The Synapt™ High Definition MS™ (HDMS™) System is for researchers working at the limits of conventional mass spectrometry (MS) and who need to further characterize and define their samples. Featuring novel ion mobility technology, the Synapt HDMS is the vanguard of a new class of MS instrumentation intended to transform the way researchers use MS in the laboratory.

 

A Technological First for Mass Spectrometry

 

The Synapt HDMS System is the first mass spectrometer of its kind to employ new ion-mobility technology and software to enable the analysis of sample ions differentiated by size and shape, as well as mass. This additional dimension of separations fidelity leads to improved specificity and sample definition meaning scientists can extract more information about their samples including the detection of previously unseen constituents.

 

A key feature of this new system is the patented Waters® Triwave™ technology, a unique method for combining highly-efficient, ion-mobility based measurement and separations with high performance quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Operational control and data acquisition and processing are performed through Waters MassLynx™ Software.

Ion mobility measurement is the subject of a luncheon seminar at ASMS entitled An Introduction and Insight into the Theory and Mechanisms of High Definition Mass Spectrometry, Wednesday, May 31, from 12:30 – 1:15 p.m. in Room 204 of the Washington State Convention and Trade Center.

 

Innovation Behind Other New MS Product Introductions

 

In addition to the Synapt High Definition MS System, Waters is introducing a new tandem UPLC/MS/MS system solution, the Waters TQD, allowing chromatographers to easily and confidently acquire UPLC/MS/MS data in routine analytical and open access settings. This UPLC/MS/MS system features the new Waters TQ Detector - a benchtop, ultra-compact, tandem-quadrupole, atmospheric pressure ionization (API) mass detector designed for routine UPLC/MS/MS analyses. With first-of-its-kind IntelliStart™ technology to integrate the internal calibration fluidics and advanced diagnostics software, the system automatically tunes and calibrates the TQ Detector and conducts full UPLC/MS/MS performance checks.

 

Rounding out Waters ASMS introductions are new capabilities and new MS products in the areas of MALDI-enabled molecular imaging, purification, and exact mass measurement for small molecules.

 

At Waters press conference, Dr. Rohit Khanna, Waters Vice President of Worldwide Marketing elaborated, “Waters current portfolio of MS, informatics, chemistries and key separation technologies deliver the best overall solutions for scientists. Our focus at ASMS is on how the company’s MS expertise is resulting in breakthrough, proprietary innovations that will redefine how scientists solve their application challenges.”

 

Ultra Performance LC (UPLC) Coupled With MS Drawing Intense Interest

 

With interest in combining the merits of UPLC together with MS reaching new levels within the mass spectrometry community, the number of scientific presentations featuring UPLC/MS and UPLC/MS/MS instrument configurations reached record numbers at this year’s ASMS. No fewer than 30 industry scientists are presenting scientific papers or posters including scientists from Pfizer, Merck, Novo Nordisk, Imperial College, Schering-Plough, Covance Laboratories, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Duke University Medical Center, University of California Genome Center, University of Barcelona, Cargill Inc., University of Alberta, Takeda, and AstraZeneca.

 

Since the introduction of Waters ACQUITY UPLC System in 2004, hundreds of research and industry scientists have combined UPLC with MS. UPLC has proven to produce narrower and sharper peaks versus HPLC, higher signal-to-noise ratios, and shorter run times – all of which contribute to enhanced mass spectrometer performance bringing laboratories new levels of efficiency, sensitivity, and speed.

 

The widespread adoption of UPLC by scientists in the mass spectrometry community has prompted them to seek more simplified results management and more unified control over the Waters ACQUITY UPLC System from within the native software of their mass spectrometer of choice. This has led mass spectrometry suppliers – Thermo Electron and Bruker Daltonics – to enter into collaborations with Waters with the intent of creating greater interoperability and connectivity between the two instrument platforms.

 

Waters Laboratory Informatics Suite Provides Versatility for Today's Laboratories

 

Current shipping versions of Waters MassLynx™ 4.1 Mass Spectrometry Software, Empower™ 2 Chromatography Data Software, NuGenesis ® 7 Scientific Data Management System Software and eLab Notebook ™ 3.0 Software are available for demonstration in Waters booth (118). Waters Laboratory Informatics Suite enables the integration of scientific information produced throughout an organization to facilitate collaboration, productivity and profitability.

 

Waters MS Users Meeting Draws Hundreds of Scientists

 

Several hundred scientists from around the world turned out on Saturday, May 27, for Waters annual mass spectrometry users meeting. Keynote presentations were given by several influential scientists including: Dr. Steven Musser, Food & Drug Administration and his presentation How the FDA Uses Proteomics Technologies to Address Food Defense and Food Safety Issues, and Prof. Jeremy Nicholson, Imperial College , London , England with his keynote on Metabonomics and Global Systems Biology: New Ways to Investigate Human Disease.

 

Afternoon sessions included presentations by leading scientists on the topics of drug discovery, metabolite identification, food safety, water quality, and protein characterization. Waters scientists and their collaborators are presenting more than 50 scientific seminars, posters, and oral presentations on technology innovation and applications for mass spectrometry including newborn screening, proteomics, peptide mapping, amino acid analysis, organic contaminants in drinking water, and metabolite identification.

Hospitality Suite Open Nightly to ASMS Attendees and Guests

Waters hospitality suite this year is located at the Westin Hotel, Grand Ballroom II. The suite will be open to ASMS attendees and their guests during the following hours:

Monday and Wednesday, 6:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. and Tuesday, 7:00 – 10:00 p.m.

On display will be Waters full line of MS technologies from bench-level single quadrupole to high-end, hybrid quadrupole, time of flight (Q-Tof™) mass spectrometers. Featured will be Premier™ tandem quadrupole, LCT Premier™ time-of-flight, GCT Premier™ time-of-flight, and AutoSpec Premier™ magnetic sector mass spectrometers. For routine LC/MS and LC/MS/MS work, Waters will exhibit the new, small-footprint ACQUITY™ SQD and TQD mass spectrometry systems; LC/MS and LC/MS/MS products enhanced by the Waters ACQUITY UPLC System.

 

About Waters Corporation

Waters Corporation holds worldwide leading positions in three complementary analytical technologies - liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry and thermal analysis. These markets account for approximately $5.0 billion of the overall $20 - $25 billion analytical instrument market.

 

Investor Contact:

Gene Cassis
Vice President, Investor Relations
508-482-2349

Media Contact:

Brian J. Murphy
Manager, Corporate Communications
508-482-2614