Molecular Partners of Zurich have introduced the INTEGRA VIAFLO 96 multichannel pipette into their high throughput expression facility to streamline discovery and development of a novel class of DARPins.
DARPins are protein therapeutics combining the advantages of antibodies and small molecule drugs.
High target specificity and potency, small size, cost-effective production and a whole range of possible multi-specific format choices gives them the potential to surpass existing antibody drugs and revolutionise protein therapeutics.
Andreas Lehmann, an expert technical assistant working in Molecular Partners 96-well high throughput expression facility, said: “Our lab is extremely satisfied with our decision to purchase and incorporate INTEGRA’s VIAFLO 96 into our development protocols. The main application we are using the system for is protein purification using IMAC (Immobilised Metal Affinity Chromatography).
“The VIAFLO 96 is used for various steps in the process starting from the preparation of bacterial cultures right through to the actual purification. Overall our protocol involves 63 full plate liquid transfers; such a workload would not be feasible with a traditional handheld multichannel pipette. We have found that the VIAFLO 96 is easy to integrate into our standard operating protocols because parameters can be defined: pipetting mode, volume, pipetting speed and pipetting height. We particularly like the ’repeat dispense’ function as it saves the lab a lot of time and improves the overall reproducibility of tests as all samples processed at the same time in the same way.”
The INTEGRA VIAFLO 96 is a handheld 96-channel electronic pipette offering fast, precise and easy simultaneous transfer of 96 samples from microplates without the cost of a fully automated system.
It was designed to handle just like a standard handheld pipette, with no special skills or training required to operate it.
Fast replication or reformatting of 96 and 384 well plates and high precision transferring of reagents, compounds and solutions to or from microplates with the VIAFLO 96 is as easy as pipetting with a standard electronic pipette into a single tube.
Four pipetting heads with pipetting volumes up to 12.5 µl, 125 µl, 300 µl or 1250 µl are available and are quickly interchangeable. An enhanced version is available for 384-well pipetting.
