Automated Powder Dispensing in High-Throughput Experimentation (HTE)

A new benchmarking study of laboratory powder dispensing systems has been published by the Enabling Technologies Consortium™ (ETC). This study highlights the strengths and weaknesses of four existing platforms, assessing their suitability for use in high-throughput pharma and biotech R&D workflows.

The ETC, a collaboration of thirteen of the world's leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, initiated this project to try to solve an existing bottleneck. Powder dispensing is a common step in most laboratory R&D applications, but the ability to accurately dispense small amounts of a diverse range of powders for high-throughput experimentation (HTE) is currently a big challenge. A working group of five ETC member companies - Pfizer, GSK, AZ, Merck and BMS - compared the performance of four commercially available automated powder dispensing systems, measuring both dispensing accuracy and speed.

Results of the study showed that METTLER TOLEDO's Quantos automated powder dispensing technology is the most capable technology on the market for accurate dispensing of the most diverse range of powders, at the smallest target weights, and in a variety of laboratory containment environments.

A new case study from METTLER TOLEDO on the ETC Powder Dispensing Study, describes the tests carried out on these four existing systems, by the five pharma companies, across seven sites. Dispensing of 2 mg, 10 mg and 50 mg of seven carefully selected reference powders was carried out on an open bench or within a containment device (fume hood, local exhaust ventilation (LEV) cabinet, purge box and glove box).

Quantos technology proved to be:

Accurate, especially at the lowest target weights, and suitable for dispensing the widest range of powder types.

Easy-to-use, with just one type of dosing head and standard dosing parameters. Good results were obtained without the need to select the correct head type, or optimise the dosing set-up for each specific powder, and therefore no expert user is necessary.

Safe, due to its ability to minimise user exposure and operate accurately and reliable within all types of containment systems tested.

With the flexibility to integrate the well-established dispensing technology into an automated platform capable of handling SBS well plate tubes, Quantos is well-suited for use in high-throughput laboratory applications, such as screening, route scouting and solubility/stability testing.

The results of the ETC powder dispensing study were presented at Pittcon in March 2018 by Matthew Bahr, and published in Org. Process Res. Dev. in October 2018.

For further information, download the case study or contact us.