Tecan, ForteBio Integrate Lab Tools

Hits:1772   Date: 3/9/2010

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Lab automation company Tecan and ForteBio have partnered to integrate their liquid handling and robotics workstation technologies to provide label-free assays for use in drug discovery and bioprocess research.

The companies have worked together to integrate ForteBio's Octet 384 platform, which includes the RED 384 and the QK384, on Tecan's Freedom EVO liquid handling workstation, Tecan said.

Männedorf, Switzerland-based Tecan said that it designed a Freedom EVO deck extension to mount the Octet 384 instrument on one side of the workstation.

The company said that a robotic manipulator arm is used to transport and handle plates and sensor trays, and an 8-channel liquid handling arm is used to prepare assay plates. A multi-channel arm with a 384- or 96-channel pipetting head also can be used for higher-throughput jobs.

ForteBio VP of Marketing Christopher Silva said in a statement that the integration will enable "Octet customers to process batches of assay plates and automate sample handling for Dip and Read biosensor assays, allowing greater throughput and increased efficiency."