Automated Compound Tube and Plate Replication ..

Velocity 11 has announced a new configuration of its BioCel sample-processing platform configured to automate compound tube and plate replication procedures.

The compound assets developed over many years of drug discovery effort are some of the most valuable assetsresources of a pharmaceutical or biotechnology organisation. Through the process of biological screening, these compounds comprise the future leads that eventually will become drug candidates. Therefore, it is critical that these compounds be managed effectively and is are widely accessible by scientific staff.

Velocity 11 designed this new BioCel compound management configuration to handle compounds stored in a variety of formats including 96-well tube racks as well as 96-well, 384-well and 1536-well microplates. The new system smoothly merges the benefits of the world of tubes (compounds) with the world of microplates (assays).

Through innovative design, the BioCel automation platform delivers the functionality of much larger systems in an efficient package optimised for speed. With industry-leading engineering, the new BioCel configuration delivers fully integrated compound management in a compact system. Offering a high storage capacity (900 plates and 288 tube racks) the new BioCel compound management platform facilitates uninterrupted production of several sets of assay plates from compound tubes. The high speed of the BioCel robotic arm allows the system to process its full plate capacity in less than 8 hours.

The BioCel system is ideally suited to compound management due to its powerful dynamic event-driven scheduling software, range of high performance automation modules and ability to simply integrate third-party instruments. The BioCel compound management platform uses VPrep pipetting stations for low volume, high-precision compound transfer. The system can accommodate 1:4 and 4:1 tube/ plate splits when moving between 96 and 384 (or 1536) well formats. The BioCel system uses its VWorks scheduling automation control software to control a VCode barcode labeler print and apply station to record and label plates and tubes thus ensuring sample integrity. A PlateLoc system seals the plates before they are stored in the output stackers.

The BioCel is one of the most compact and rapid automated sample processing systems on the marketavailable. The BioCel is capable of automating a wide range of applications, spanning from compound plate replication and HTS assays in drug discovery research to nucleic acid sample preparation in genomics laboratories.