Waters Corporation will be assisting Singapore’s Bioprocessing Technology Institute (BTI) in its glycoscience research. BTI is the first research institute focused on glycobiology to participate in the Waters Centers of Innovation Program.

BTI’s glycan research is aimed at finding novel cancer markers and elucidating glycosylation pathways that could pave the way for new therapeutic strategies.

“I am delighted that BTI has been recognised by Waters for its expertise in glycomics. Through this collaboration, BTI will be able to advance cancer biomarker research and further cement Singapore’s position as a key player in biologics,” said professor Lam Kong-Peng, executive director of BTI.

According to Dr. Mike Harrington, senior vice president, global markets for Waters Corporation, “BTI’s research in glycobiology is world-class and we wish to help it realize the enormous potential of this very important area of science through the application of Waters analytical technologies and expertise.”

In 2016, Waters and BTI announced a collaboration to develop a glycoconjugate database and spectral library that would assist researchers using mass spectrometry in identifying glycans in their samples. As part of this collaboration, the company is contributing scientific expertise and the use of a Waters SYNAPT G2-S High Definition Mass Spectrometry System. The instrument features ion mobility mass spectrometry technology that rapidly separates molecular ions by not only their size and mass-to-charge ratio, but by their shape. It also calculates a collisional cross-section (CCS) value for each molecular ion. The ability to identify glycans based on their CCS value reveals insights into their unique chemical structure that provides a higher degree of specificity than using just mass-to-charge ratio alone.

The glycoscience programme, headed by professor Pauline Rudd and Dr. Terry Nguyen-Khuong, scientist of BTI, will further develop and apply state-of-the-art technology to advanced bioprocessing and biologic characterization, development and production.