Andrew Alliance, Sartorius to Collaborate on Pipettes

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Pharmaceutical Technology's In the Lab eNewsletter

In the Lab eNewsletter, Pharmaceutical Technology\'s In the Lab eNewsletter-03-06-2019, Volume 14, Issue 3

The companies will develop a software-connected pipetting system for improved reproducibility and traceability in life-science laboratories.

On Feb. 8, 2019, Andrew Alliance, a robotics company that specializes in liquid handling, and Sartorius, a pharmaceutical and laboratory equipment supplier, announced the launch of the Andrew Alliance Pipette+ system for full traceability and improved repeatability in manual pipetting for life-science laboratories.

The system includes electronic single and multichannel pipettes, an intelligent stand, and novel cloud-based software. The hardware is based on Sartorius’s Picus range of electronic pipettes. Using Internet of Things solutions, the pipettes communicate wirelessly with the stand by Bluetooth, and the computerized charging stand communicates with cloud servers by either wi-fi or ethernet. The pipette transmits data to the stand, such as possible errors, operator identity, and step-by-step actions taken by the operator, ensuring full traceability and improved repeatability, the companies report.

The software system uses OneLab, Andrew Alliance’s browser-based intelligent software environment. This software allows intuitive protocol design and simplified protocol execution. For instance, the software can indicate which pipette is to be used at each step in an experiment, preset the required pipetting parameters, and eject tips at the appropriate time. Thus, users can complete protocols in a few clicks, according to Andrew Alliance.

“We worked together with Andrew Alliance to provide the scientific community with a next-generation solution for manual pipetting. We’ve been at the forefront of the electronic pipette revolution with our Picus pipette and are now connecting the world of pipetting to the world of computing. This represents a quantitative leap in the performance of electronic pipettes over that of mechanical devices,” said Venkat Rao, head of Business Management, EMEA Life Science Research, Sartorius, in a company press release.

“Life-science researchers should be confident that their often highly limited biological samples, costly reagents, and time are focused on progressing valuable research rather than unnecessarily repeating experiments,” said Piero Zucchelli, CEO and co-founder of Andrew Alliance, in the press release. 

Source: Sartorius