Pharmaceutical Technology Editors

Thermo Fisher Scientific recently announced that it had become a founding sponsor of Momentum Labs, a collaborative laboratory and office space to be located in Alachua, Fla. The venture, spearheaded by Gainesville real estate development firm Concept Companies, is designed to serve as a collaborative space for biotech businesses in the greater Gainesville region.

According to a Jan. 12, 2023 company press release, the north central region of Florida is home to more than 100 life sciences companies, but lacks the flexible growth space to help emerging companies succeed. Momentum Labs is intended to fill this gap, providing life sciences companies the ability to scale up without moving to other markets.

“From a regional and state perspective, Momentum Labs provides critical infrastructure and business development resources to support the growth of life sciences in Florida, giving the ecosystem the opportunity to retain companies rather than losing them to other communities,” said Abhinav Akhoury, vice-president, corporate accounts, Thermo Fisher Scientific, in the release. “Through our sponsorship, Momentum Labs has the ability to provide the latest innovative technologies to high-growth life science companies that are developing tomorrow’s life-changing medicines.”

“It’s challenging for growing companies to stay ahead of their space needs,” said Brian Crawford, CEO, Concept Companies, in the release. “Not only is there a large expense for all the equipment needed, but there are also often extraordinary lead times associated with the acquisition and installation. Partnering with Thermo Fisher Scientific gives us the ability to offer the latest innovative instrumentation and equipment to our members allowing them to leverage their capital for growth.”

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Thermo Fisher’s sponsorship of Momentum Labs is intended to support biotech businesses in the greater Gainesville region.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Founding Sponsorship of Momentum Labs

Fluid Air, a division of Spraying Systems, announced the launch of its enhanced Magnaflo assembly on Feb. 2, 2023. The upgrades are intended to increase powder yield through a more effective method of clearing product from the process filters.

The Magnaflo is a filter blowback system compatible with the PolarDry Models 001 and 004 electrostatic spray dryers, According to a company press release, the upgraded system is designed to speed up feed rates, ease processing of fine and sticky particles, and reduce both energy and nitrogen consumption.

“We are committed to continuous improvement,” said Michel Thenin, president, Fluid Air, in the release. “Our customers demand smart and efficient technology, and we are proud to add the enhanced Magnaflo system to our award-winning PolarDry product lineup.”

Improvements to Fluid Air’s Magnaflo filter blowback system are intended to increase powder yield in PolarDry Models 001 and 004.

Fluid Air Launches Enhanced Magnaflo Filter Blowback System

The ROSS line of Dual Shaft Mixers are robust, versatile systems with enough power to batch dispersions, suspensions, and emulsions with viscosities up to several hundred thousand centipoise. The custom-built ROSS FDA-3500 has a maximum working capacity of 3500 gallons, a two-zone stainless-steel dimpled jacket for heating/cooling, a 4-inch pneumatic discharge valve, and an explosion-proof load cell system rated for up to 20,000 lbs.

This multi-agitator system is equipped with independently controlled drives and is designed to efficiently produce good turnover and impart shear to a viscous batch. Powered by a 300 HP TEFC inverter duty motor, the high-speed disperser runs at tip speeds up to 5000 ft. per minute, inducing high shear forces. Meanwhile, the 60 HP Three-Wing Helical Anchor Agitator feeds product towards the disperser blade and ensures that the mixture is constantly in motion. Teflon scrapers on the anchor wipe materials from the vessel wall, enhancing heat transfer from the jacket.

ROSS’ Dual Shaft Mixers can batch dispersions, suspensions, and emulsions with viscosities up to several hundred thousand centipoise.

Dual Shaft Mixers

Nova Biomedical’s BioProfile FAST CDV is a high-throughput, fully automated viable cell density and viability analyzer. The device uses trypan blue dye exclusion methodology for determination of live and dead cells, as well as a high-resolution camera/optics to provide cell density and cell viability measurements.

The analyzer is capable of producing results in less than 70 seconds with 100 µL of sample volume. It also performs all sample dilutions internally, which allows cell culture samples up to 140e6 c/mL to be analyzed without external sample dilution. The device can sample cell cultures via an external 36-position loans-and-go tray or via a 96-well plate option.

The software associated with the device has a built-in touch screen display and icon-based navigation. Its software and networking capabilities are 21 

 Part 11 compliant and have also been designed to meet FDA’s new cybersecurity guidelines.

The BioProfile FAST CDV is a fully automated viable cell density and viability analyzer. 

Cell Density and Viability Analyzer

Bio-Rad Laboratories’ EconoFit Low-Pressure Prepacked Chromatography Column Packs

Bio-Rad Laboratories’ EconoFit Low-Pressure Prepacked Chromatography Column Packs are designed for resin screening, allowing customers that are developing protein purification workflows to select the optimal chemistry for different targets. The columns offer various resins in a prepacked format, including mixed-mode, cation, and anion exchange resin columns, as well as a pack designed for polyhistidine protein purification.

The columns are fully compatible with Bio-Rad’s next-generation chromatography systems in addition to other commonly used chromatography systems. The columns are available in 1 mL and 5 mL sizes.

Bio-Rad Laboratories’ EconoFit Column Packs provide resin screening for customers developing protein purification workflows.

Protein Purification Column Packs

Thermo Fisher Scientific’s QualTrak is a comprehensive suite of quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) tools that includes various Applied Biosystems solutions. The product is tailored for biologics development, including monoclonal antibodies, cell and gene therapies, and vaccines.

Among the solutions in QualTrak are the QuantStudio 6 and 7 Pro-Real Time PCR Systems, as well as the TaqMan and TaqPath master mixes and assays. The TaqPath BactoPure master mix is designed to detect as low as one copy of DNA per microliter from bacterial, viral, fungal, and mammalian sources to ensure contamination-free drug product and accurate titers.

QualTrak comes with readily available compliance documentation to reduce the time needed to comply with internal quality systems and regulatory requirements. To support post-discovery steps, such as manufacturing quality control and biodistribution, all master mixes and assays are manufactured at an ISO 13485-certified, FDA registered facility that uses current good manufacturing practices.

Thermo Fisher Scientific’s QualTrak is tailored for biologics development.