Advion BioSciences Inc and Thermo Electron Corp have signed a non-exclusive agreement to co-market their products to life science researchers. The agreement launches Advion's global market initiative to introduce automated nanoelectrospray, a powerful technology that allows researchers to control both analysis speed and data quality for small-sample analyses of proteins and other biomolecules.

Under the agreement, Advion and Thermo Electron will jointly coordinate the sales, marketing and support of the world's first fully automated chip-based nanoelectrospray MS system, the integrated NanoMate-LCQ Deca XP Plus. The new system combines Advion's NanoMate 100 Automated Nanoelectrospray robotic system and ESI Chip with Thermo Electron's Finnigan LCQ Deca XP Plus ion trap mass spectrometer. Financial terms were not disclosed. The announcement was made at Pittcon, the annual Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy, held here from March 9th-14th.

"Our agreement with MS-technology leader Thermo Electron is the realization of our shared vision for unleashing the power of automated nanoelectrospray for life science applications," said Jack Henion, Advion's president and CEO. "The combination of Advion's NanoMate 100 with Thermo Electron's Finnigan ion trap mass spectrometers for the first time allows researchers to take full advantage of the unique benefits of this technology. Compared to conventional methods, automated nanoelectrospray offers higher sample-throughput, lack of sample cross-contamination, reduced analysis cost and the need for only a very small sample to get meaningful results."

Ian Jardine, CTO of Thermo Electron's Life and Laboratory Sciences Sector, added, "Advion's NanoMate 100 will allow our customers to extend the extraordinary sensitivity and capabilities of the Finnigan LCQ Deca XP Plus to high-throughput applications.