Agilent and A*STAR's BTI Collaborate on New Bioanalytical Methodologies

Agilent Technologies and the Bioprocessing Technology Institute (BTI), a research institute of Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) announced that they will collaborate on new analytical approaches to analysing specific protein-linked sugar compounds. The collaboration will address a gap in analytical tests and standards applied for drugs based on glycoproteins, which now form the majority of approved biopharmaceutical drugs. Current analytical methods for characterising glycans are time-consuming and difficult to deploy in commercial environments. They are also limited in their ability to detect and analyse minor glycan species.

According to Nino Totino, General Manager for Agilent’s Life Sciences and Applied Markets Group in the South Asia, Pacific and Korea region, there is a critical need in the biopharmaceutical industry for a novel technology platform that can support detailed glycan analysis quickly and effectively in a high throughput environment. Both Agilent and BTI will work together on several projects that could lead to the creation of rigorous, standardised tests for drug safety and efficacy.