ORLANDO, Fla., March 12, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pittcon Conference -- Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) and Protea Biosciences Group, Inc. announced today a co-marketing agreement enabling customers of Waters® SYNAPT® G2 & G2-S HDMS systems to take advantage of Protea's LAESI DP-1000. The combination of the technologies enables laboratories to perform fast and direct analyses of biological samples.
Protea's LAESI DP-1000 system uses Laser Ablation Electrospray Ionization (LAESI) technology to help identify biomolecules like metabolites, lipids, peptides, and proteins in native biological samples including tissue, blood, urine, live cells, and colonies. With little or no sample preparation, biomolecules can be quickly ionized and accurately mapped to specific cellular structures or tissue locations under ambient conditions. When coupled to high resolution mass spectrometers, the LAESI DP-1000 is capable of quantifying biomolecules as well.
According to Alessandro Baldi, Vice President and General Manager at Protea, "This collaboration will provide Waters customers an excellent tool for two and three dimensional profiling of tissues and for mapping the spatial distribution of biomolecules in biological samples. In addition, customers are able to directly analyze open well plates for high throughput applications on Waters mass spectrometry instrumentation."
"The combination of LAESI with SYNAPT's ability to separate isomeric species based on cross sectional area, using ion mobility, is particularly exciting and will undoubtedly facilitate discovery in this kind of complex analysis," says Dr. Steve Smith, Senior Director of MS Product Management, Waters Division.
Under the agreement, Protea will make the LAESI DP-1000 available to new and existing users of Waters' SYNAPT G2 and SYNAPT G2-S mass spectrometers running under MassLynx® control.
The technology is expected to have a broad range of commercial applications including chemical and biological research, surgical pathology, chemical and biological defense, forensics, and agriculture. LAESI represents a minimally invasive and minimally destructive approach to analysis making it possible to probe tissues and cells for their molecular composition in three dimensions and with changes in time.
The Scientist Magazine has recognized the LAESI DP-1000 as one of 2011's Top 10 Innovations of the year.
About Protea Biosciences Group, Inc.
Protea (www.proteabio.com) is a leader in the development of new bioanalytical technologies that enable the direct analysis of proteins, metabolites, and other biomolecules. Its Bioanalytical Services organization provides expertise and innovation to support projects from concept to knowledge.
About Waters Corporation
For over 50 years, Waters Corporation has created business advantages for laboratory-dependent organizations by delivering practical and sustainable innovation to enable significant advancements in such areas as healthcare delivery, environmental management, food safety, and water quality worldwide.
Pioneering a connected portfolio of separations science, laboratory information management, mass spectrometry and thermal analysis, Waters technology breakthroughs and laboratory solutions provide an enduring platform for customer success.
With revenue of $1.85 billion in 2011, Waters is driving scientific discovery and operational excellence for customers worldwide.
Waters, Synapt, and MassLynx are trademarks of Waters Corporation.
LAESI is a registered trademark of Protea Biosciences Group, Inc.
The Protea Biosciences, Inc. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=10808
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain certain statements relating to future results which are forward-looking statements. These statements are not historical facts, but instead represent only the Company's belief regarding future events, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of the Company's control. It is possible that the Company's actual results and financial condition may differ, possibly materially, from the anticipated results and financial condition indicated in these forward-looking statements. Further information concerning the Company and its business, including factors that potentially could materially affect the Company's financial results, are contained in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date of this press release, and we do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or correct any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that subsequently occur or of which we hereafter become aware.
Protea website: www.proteabio.com
About LAESI: https://proteabio.com/LAESI
https://proteabio.com/LAESI/Resources/videos/LAESI+DP-1000+-+see+beyond