Tag Archives: biosensor

New EpiGrammer version – Free trial license

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We have developed a new, improved version of the EpiGrammer™ software for Label-Enhanced SPR, and celebrate this with a special offer:

A free 3-month EpiGrammer trial license to all new Episentec™ dye reagent customers in April 2015.

EpiGrammer software is used for calculating enhanced sensorgrams based on our proprietary Label-Enhanced SPR technology:

  • 100-fold improved sensitivity as compared to standard SPR sensorgrams.
  • 100% specificity with respect to the dye-labelled species.

News in version 2.1:

  • Extended linear dynamic range and more efficient rejection of large disturbances.
  • Improved quantification of small binding levels in presence of varying DMSO concentrations.
  • The interactive, easy-to-use graphical interface and the data import/export routines are unchanged.

Please contact sales@episentum.com for any enquiries or to place an order.

Episentec to present at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK

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The CEO of Episentec, Anders Hanning, has been invited to give a presentation about Label-Enhanced SPR at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB), Cambridge, UK. The LMB, sometimes nicknamed ‘The Nobel Prize Factory’, has received 10 Nobel prizes shared amongst 14 individuals, including names such as Watson & Crick (DNA structure), Milstein & Köhler (monoclonal antibodies), and Sanger (protein sequencing & DNA sequencing). The presentation will cover applications of Label-Enhanced SPR in the analysis of proteins, nucleic acids, and small molecules.

Meet Episentec at Fragments 2015 in Cambridge, UK, 22-24 March 2015

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We will participate and present a poster on Label-Enhanced SPR at the 5th RSC-BMCS Fragment-based Drug Discovery Meeting in Cambridge, UK, 22-24 March 2015.

We will also spend 25-26 March in the Cambridge area, so if you’re interested in Label-Enhanced SPR and if you’re site is not too far from Cambridge, please contact us and we’ll arrange a meeting!

Please contact us at info@episentum.com for any enquiries.

New Application Note 022 on protein analysis

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Label-Enhanced SPR has already been well established as a powerful tool to improve small molecule analysis on SPR instruments, but now the Label-Enhanced SPR concept has been successfully extended also to improved protein analysis. Details are found in our new Application Note 022 on protein analysis.

Please check out our Application Notes page for more info or order the new document directly from sales@episentum.com.

Research agreement with AstraZeneca / Press release

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Episentec (Solna, Sweden) and AstraZeneca (Mölndal, Sweden) have signed a research collaboration agreement regarding the development and implementation of improved methodology for early screening of potential new drug molecules. The research project, aimed at an undisclosed drug target protein, will be utilizing the proprietary Label-Enhanced SPR biosensor technology of Episentec. Under the terms of the agreement, AstraZeneca will supply target protein and small molecules for screening, while Episentec will develop and implement new SPR-based screening methodologies. The goal of the project is to develop cost-efficient screening methods with higher sensitivity, higher specificity, and higher throughput than what is possible using today’s state-of-the-art technologies.

Anders Hanning, CEO of Episentec, comments: “We are very happy to get this opportunity to cooperate with AstraZeneca. We really believe that our Label-Enhanced SPR technology has the potential to take today’s SPR-based screening methods to a new level of performance.”

Stefan Geschwindner, Principal Scientist at AstraZeneca, adds: “Entering this collaboration with Episentec will bring us in a position to significantly expand the current application areas of SPR-based drug screening. Having found an experienced partner in that area makes us feel confident in achieving the goals of this collaboration, for the benefit of enabling unprecedented screening approaches as well as unlocking difficult target classes in the near future.”

For further information please contact:

Anders Hanning, CEO, Episentec anders.hanning@episentec.com +46 70 225 99 96

Stefan Geschwindner, Principal Scientist, Discovery Sciences, AstraZeneca R&D Mölndal stefan.geschwindner@astrazeneca.com +46 31 776 2197

About SPR-based drug screening: SPR (Surface Plasmon Resonance) is an optical biosensor method that is commonly used in the screening of potential new drug molecules. SPR is used to detect which molecules that bind to and interact with a specific disease target, usually a protein. SPR drug screening was pioneered by the Swedish company Biacore™, now part of GE Healthcare.

About Episentec: Episentec is a Swedish biotech company established in 2010 by scientists with a comprehensive experience in the development and application of biosensors. The aim of the company is to develop add-on tools that boost the performance of optical biosensor instruments. Episentec’s proprietary concept “Label-Enhanced SPR” substantially improves the performance of SPR-based biosensor instruments and expands their breadth of application. The company markets the Episentec™ range of dye reagents and EpiGrammer™ software for data evaluation, and also offers services for dye labelling of biomolecules and biosensor method development. For more information please visit: www.episentec.com

About AstraZeneca: AstraZeneca is a global, innovation-driven biopharmaceutical business that focuses on the discovery, development and commercialisation of prescription medicines, primarily for the treatment of cardiovascular, metabolic, respiratory, inflammation, autoimmune, oncology, infection and neuroscience diseases. AstraZeneca operates in over 100 countries and its innovative medicines are used by millions of patients worldwide. For more information please visit: www.astrazeneca.com

Two new Application Notes

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Application Note 019 describes competition-based screening and characterisation with label-enhanced SPR. Please note that in the competition format, the actual interaction between the analyte and the target is totally label-free while it’s only the readout that is label-enhanced.

Application Note 020 is a technology primer summarizing the basic aspects and applications of label-enhanced SPR.

Please check out our Application Notes page for more info or order the new documents directly from sales@episentec.com.

 

Update on Technology & Applications

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Our Technology & Applications web page has been thoroughly updated. We describe the functional principles behind label-enhanced SPR and how its strongly improved performance translates into benefits in different applications. Some interesting new references are also added.

Summary

The label-enhanced SPR technology of Episentec offers the following benefits:

  • Enhanced sensitivity: signal-to-noise ratio increased 100-fold.
  • Enhanced specificity: measurement is fully specific with respect to the dye label.
  • Compatibility with standard commercial SPR instruments.
  • Label-enhanced and label-free SPR simultaneously and in parallel.
  • Label-free analysis with outstanding sensitivity in competitive format.
  • Constant signal per bound molecule.
  • No bulk referencing needed.
  • Possibility to monitor two binders simultaneously.

Click here to check out the updated page!

Episentec – The Better Biosensor Company