GEN-MKT-18-7897-A
Jun 24, 2024 | Blogs, Echo® MS+ system, Pharma | 0 comments
Read time: 3 minutes
In drug discovery laboratories, there is often a need to generate trusted analytical data on hundreds of thousands of drug candidates to allow confident decisions to be made. Sample prep, instrument run time, and data processing are all challenges that must be overcome.
With the option to combine the automation of sample preparation and integrated data processing, the Echo® MS+ system can address these challenges, opening up the ability to collect reliable mass spectrometric data at up to 1 sample per second. Curious to know more about what is possible and how it is possible? Uncover the secret here, and watch the video. Uncover the Secret: Sample Every Second with SCIEX Echo® MS+ system (youtube.com)
What is possible in drug discovery assays?
As scientists, we need to see the data to be convinced. Aaron Stella, Research and Development Scientist at SCIEX, designed an experiment to show real-time measurements of the hydrolysis of codeine-6-glucuronide. He used the Beckman Coulter Life Sciences Biomek i7 automated liquid handler to prepare and perform a kinetic study before transferring the samples to the Echo® MS+ system with ZenoTOF 7600 system to quantify the analytes of interest.
Figure 6: Rate of codeine production from the 50 ng/ml (green) and the 250 ng/ml (dark blue) codeine-6-glucuronide samples
In this study, Aaron demonstrated:
To learn more about Aaron’s work, the full article can be found here:
An automated, real-time measurement of kinetic hydrolysis of glucuronide, utilizing the Echo® MS+ system with ZenoTOF 7600 system – An automated, real-time measurement of the kinetic hydrolysis of a glucuronide using the Echo® MS+ system with ZenoTOF 7600 system (sciex.com)
Another example of how the Echo MS+ system could support analysis as part of the drug discovery process, GSK used the Echo® MS system to develop a biochemical assay in their laboratory. While this isn’t the latest system, the same experiment could be done on the Echo® MS+ system. The technical note Development of an acetylcholinesterase biochemical assay using the SCIEX Echo® MS system concluded:
How is it possible?
The Echo® MS+ system uses acoustic ejection mass spectrometry (AEMS) technology. Samples are placed into a compatible well plate in the Echo® MS+ system’s autosampler. Here sound energy is applied to the bottom of each well individually. The sound energy causes reproducible droplets to be ejected from the well for capture in a carrier solvent of the OPI for dilution and transfer to the mass spectrometer’s source. From this point, the diluted sample is ionized using conventional electrospray ionization, ready for detection.
System features
If you would like to know more about the Echo® MS+ system, learn more here about its capabilities for your research, or contact us.
In biopharmaceutical development, sequence variants (SV) are considered an inherent risk of producing complex proteins in living systems. Sequence variants are unintended changes to the amino acid sequence of a biotherapeutic and can be caused by errors in transcription or translation in the host cell, or cell culture and process conditions. Detailed analysis of SVs is important in process and product development to ensure the drug’s safety and efficacy. Even low‑level sequence variants can have significant implications for product quality, safety, and efficacy, making their accurate detection and characterization a critical requirement across development, process optimization, and regulatory submission.
CE‑SDS remains a cornerstone assay for characterizing fragmentation, aggregation, and product‑related impurities in therapeutic proteins. UV detection has been the long‑standing standard. However, it frequently struggles with baseline noise, limited sensitivity for minor fragments, and subjective integration.
At SCIEX, innovation doesn’t stop at instruments; it extends to how you interact with your LC-MS/MS or CE systems every day. That’s why we’re excited to introduce the SCIEX Now spring 2026 improvements: a set of meaningful enhancements shaped directly by your feedback.
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