Product News: Waters and Prosolia Sign Exclusive Agreement for DESI Technology for Clinical Mass Spectrometry Applications

Prosolia DESI Technology Now Available on SYNAPT G2 Si and Xevo G2-XS QTof Mass Spectrometers

Waters Corporation has signed an agreement with Prosolia, Inc. for the exclusive rights to DESI (Desorption Electrospray Ionization) technology for clinical research applications for use with Waters® time-of-flight mass spectrometers, including its SYNAPT® G2 Si and Xevo® G2-XS QTof mass spectrometers. The announcement came at the 62nd conference of the American Society of Mass Spectrometry (ASMS).

When used for clinical research studies, DESI is a non-destructive means by which researchers using mass spectrometry can determine, with specificity and speed, the molecular distributions of drugs, lipids and metabolites from human tissue samples. Otherwise known as in vitro “tissue imaging”, it allows scientists to potentially distinguish healthy tissue from diseased tissue.

“By combining Prosolia’s DESI with Waters' time-of-flight mass spectrometers, we see the potential to advance clinical research in meaningful ways,” said Dr. Rohit Khanna, Vice President of Worldwide Marketing and Informatics for the Waters Division. “This agreement with Prosolia is an important step in fulfilling our vision of improving human health by partnering with the biomedical community to make breakthrough scientific discoveries and translate them into healthcare solutions.”

A bottleneck in life science research is the time and expertise required for sample preparation. Tissue sample preparation can be a tedious process that often involves multiple steps, delaying the time to a result, decreasing productivity and increasing the probability for error. DESI eliminates this bottleneck by enabling direct, automated analysis of tissue samples thereby reducing the requirement for extensive sample preparation and enabling high throughput sample analysis. These capabilities translate into lower laboratory operational costs, streamlined workflows and generate results faster than traditional approaches.

“Waters is a natural choice for Prosolia to partner with to advance the DESI technology in the clinical research space,” said Dr. Justin Wiseman, Chairman, President & CEO of Prosolia. “Waters’ mass spectrometry technology and vision of a healthier future for humanity appealed to us on many levels and we are looking forward to a long and successful relationship.”