January 25, 2011
Global leader in life sciences research introduces the first benchtop platform combining patented optical label-free and labeled detection to discover new therapeutics
WALTHAM, Mass. – PerkinElmer, Inc., a global leader focused on improving the health and safety of people and the environment, today announced the introduction of the EnSpire® Multimode Plate Reader with Corning® Epic® label-free technology. This is the first and only benchtop detection platform to combine optical label-free technology and traditional labeled assays to accurately identify and characterize potential new therapeutic targets. The new EnSpire label-free platform is the result of a strategic collaboration established between PerkinElmer and Corning Life Sciences.
The EnSpire Label-Free platform can identify novel molecules and characterize important cellular and biochemical mechanisms of action that otherwise might have gone undetected by conventional labeled approaches. Label-free detection is shown to be applicable to all major classes of drug targets, including GPCRs, kinases, enzymes, ion channels, protein:protein and protein:ligand interactions, enabling broader research applicability.
Richard M. Eglen, PhD, president, Bio-discovery, PerkinElmer, said, “Label-free technology represents a potential game-changer in drug discovery innovation, by offering researchers a universal platform to observe cellular interactions and the effects of possible new drug compounds on cells. This is a major improvement over the use of traditional labeled assay methods alone, which rely on more indirect and time-consuming methods of observation.”
Achim von Leoprechting, PhD, vice president, Imaging and Detection Technologies, Bio-discovery, PerkinElmer, added, “The new EnSpire platform allows simultaneous measurement of multiple signaling pathways over time, to provide researchers with a more complete and insightful view of both cellular and biochemical interactions. Label-free approaches are sensitive enough to work with sub-confluent cells and non-recombinant cell types. This approach can yield more biologically relevant data, allowing for more predictive and faster decisions to be made, as well as improving the quality of research.”
The EnSpire Label-free platform combines Corning‘s Epic® optical label-free technology with a range of classical labeled technologies, including quad monochromator-based absorbance and fluorescence intensity, ultra-sensitive luminescence and patented Alpha technology in multi-well plate formats. The ability to offer these complementary detection technologies on a single platform allows PerkinElmer to better serve the needs of academic research, as well as assay development, secondary screening and structural activity relationship (SAR) studies in drug discovery.
