Reimagining Light Scattering For Biotherapeutics

In this interview, Richard Chung, Product Manager astatine Wyatt Technology, discusses nan improvement of nan DynaPro Plate Reader 4, a next-generation strategy designed to bring powerful ray scattering capabilities to modular well-plate formats. He explains really nan instrument’s intuitive DYNAMICS Touch interface, integrated camera, and automation compatibility are helping streamline workflows, amended information quality, and support precocious applications successful biotherapeutic improvement and nanoparticle formulation.

Can you show america astir your domiciled astatine Wyatt Technology and your engagement successful nan improvement of nan DynaPro Plate Reader 4?

I’ve been pinch Wyatt Technology for astir 9 years now. I started my travel successful customer support, helping scientists and our users pinch method improvement and troubleshooting. All of that customer feedback and interactions gave maine a heavy knowing of really group usage our instruments successful nan existent world. When I transitioned into merchandise management, I brought that position pinch me. With nan DynaPro Plate Reader 4, I worked intimately pinch engineering, customer beta testers and early adopters to modernize nan platform, amended usability, and align it pinch our broader imagination of accessible, high-performance instrumentation.

Image Credit: Wyatt Technology 

Could you springiness america an overview of move and fixed ray scattering and why they’re useful successful biotherapeutic development?

Light scattering is incredibly versatile. Dynamic ray scattering (DLS) measures fluctuations successful ray strength caused by particles undergoing Brownian motion, which we usage to cipher hydrodynamic size. Static ray scattering (SLS) gives america molecular weight and relationship parameters. These techniques are powerful devices crossed nan supplier improvement pipeline, whether screening for aggregation, assessing thermal aliases colloidal stability, aliases optimizing formulations. Aggregation often impacts immunogenicity, truthful detecting it early is critical.

What unmet needs did you want nan DynaPro Plate Reader 4 to address?

We wanted to modernize nan instrumentality and make it easier to use, particularly for newer aliases infrequent users. The DYNAMICS Touch interface was a large portion of that—offering walk-up usability and simplified research setup. One of our beta testers runs a halfway laboratory that serves world and pharma scientists to do their ain proof-of-concept experiments. They told america nan walk-up study was a game-changer and made it incredibly easy to group up experiments and get results immediately. That benignant of feedback reinforced our attraction connected usability and helped style features for illustration customizable presets and real-time information value checks.

Compared to competing technologies, our expertise to measurement DLS and SLS successful industry-standard good plates (96, 384, and 1536 formats) really sets america apart. It makes nan strategy perfect for high-throughput workflows and easy to merge into existing laboratory setups. Since ray scattering is simply a non-destructive test, a personification tin probe samples for size and polydispersity connected an industry-standard sheet and past move them to different instrumentality for further characterization.

What are immoderate of nan cardinal applications of nan Plate Reader 4 successful biotherapeutic improvement and nanoparticle formulation?

The Plate Reader 4 is simply a elastic level that adapts to various investigation needs. It has DLS and SLS capabilities and a wide somesthesia power range, supporting a wide scope of applications. We tin measure aggregation nether different conditions to optimize formulations, tally colloidal stableness studies pinch a attraction bid utilizing kD and A2, and execute thermal stableness and freeze-thaw study acknowledgment to our wide somesthesia scope (4 °C to 85 °C). You tin summation insights into unfolding and aggregation by analyzing molecular weight and hydrodynamic diameter crossed somesthesia ranges. We’ve moreover seen customers usage nan strategy for time-based studies for vaccine stableness and viscosity estimation by spiking samples pinch known standards.

Can you explicate nan domiciled of nan DYNAMICS Touch interface and really it simplifies nan personification experience?

DYNAMICS Touch has a touchscreen interface that lets you build experiments from scratch straight connected nan touchscreen for walk-up measurement. You tin besides load a preset built by an master personification successful nan DYNAMICS desktop software. This makes it a batch easier for much novice users to tally a method, aliases for a much knowledgeable intelligence to creation a method and person it executed by a inferior scientist. It’s besides easy to alteration which wells you prime successful a preset pinch conscionable a fewer taps of nan touchscreen. We’ve besides incorporated respective caller features that thief users measure information value successful existent clip pinch unrecorded autocorrelation usability monitoring and an integrated camera view. For example, if location are ample particles successful a sample, they will often origin precocious count rates aliases baselines. The strategy flags those samples truthful nan personification tin look astatine them much closely. It’s each astir making nan strategy intuitive and reducing nan learning curve.

Image Credit: Wyatt Technology

What domiciled does nan onboard camera play successful ensuring information value and diagnostics during measurements?

Combined pinch package diagnostics and information value indicators, nan camera helps users spot their information and troubleshoot issues much effectively. The onboard camera visualizes each well, helping place bubbles, dust, aliases highly ample aggregates aliases precipitation that could interfere pinch measurements. Users tin prevention these images and reappraisal them later if nan strategy flags a measurement arsenic suboptimal.

How does nan instrumentality support GMP compliance and regulated environments?

Our desktop software, DYNAMICS, is 21 CFR Part 11 compliant. It includes audit trails, customizable personification groups, and support controls. We typically stabilize nan level for caller instruments for illustration nan Plate Reader 4 earlier rolling retired compliance features. We expect to rotation retired afloat GMP support for nan Plate Reader 4 successful early 2026.

How important was compatibility pinch robotic liquid handlers and laboratory automation systems during development?

It was highly important. Labs are nether unit to summation productivity and analyse much samples successful little time; automation is simply a cardinal portion of that. The Plate Reader 4 has an API disposable for acquisition that allows integration pinch systems from companies for illustration HighRes Bio, Hamilton, Labman automation and Waters’ Andrew + to sanction a few. Since Waters acquired Wyatt successful May 2023, we’re besides exploring ways to grow our automation capabilities moreover further and span nan integration beyond what we’ve offered for automation packages successful nan past.

How do you spot nan early of ray scattering evolving, and wherever does Wyatt Technology fresh into that vision?

The extremity is ever to get nan safest, astir effective narcotics to patients sooner. We’re seeing a push toward automation, cloud-based information environments, and multi-attribute analysis, ever driving towards amended ratio and much data. A fewer of our customers are experimenting pinch self-driving labs utilizing AI and instrumentality learning, and we want our platforms to beryllium portion of that evolution. That benignant of customer feedback is cardinal to shaping nan early of Waters | Wyatt. On nan hardware side, we’re focused connected smart integration—adding capabilities that complement existing workflows and supply a much complete image of sample stability. It’s astir maximizing nan platform’s capabilities and enabling seamless information transportation crossed systems successful a scientifically sound and user-friendly way.

About Richard Chung

Richard Chung is simply a Product Manager astatine Wyatt Technology, bringing years of expertise successful ray scattering and analytical instrumentation. Since joining Wyatt successful 2016, he has held cardinal roles, including Application Scientist and Customer Support Manager, wherever he worked intimately pinch researchers to lick analyzable analytical challenges. Now, arsenic a Product Manager, Richard bridges nan spread betwixt scientists and amended instruments—gathering insights from nan section and collaborating pinch soul investigation teams to create cutting-edge solutions that empower laboratories worldwide. 

About Waters | Wyatt Technology

Wyatt Technology Corporation, acquired by Waters Corporation successful May 2023, develops instrumentation, package and techniques for nan characterization of macromolecules and nanoparticles, successful solution, based connected ray scattering and related technologies. The beingness properties wished by Wyatt’s products see absolute molar wide of proteins, polymers and different macromolecules; size and complaint (zeta potential); protein-protein and different biomolecular interactions; creation of conjugated proteins and co-polymers; and macromolecular conformation.

Waters Corporation, a world leader successful analytical instruments, separations technologies, and software, focuses connected accelerating nan benefits of pioneering subject to amended quality wellness and well-being. For complete 65 years, we person collaborated pinch our customers to guarantee nan information of nan medicines we take, nan purity of nutrient we eat and nan h2o we drink, and nan value and sustainability of nan products we usage each day.

Products and services

Wyatt’s merchandise statement includes instruments and package for:

• on-line multi-angle ray scattering (MALS), utilized successful conjunction pinch size-exclusion chromatography to quantify absolute molar mass, size, conformation, conjugation and aggregation
• traditional (cuvette-based) and high-throughput (microwell plate-based) move ray scattering (DLS) to find size (radius) and size distributions, macromolecule pouring somesthesia and stability-indicating parameters
• electrophoretic mobility (PALS) to find molecular charge/zeta potential
• composition-gradient ray scattering for label-free study of biomolecular interactions
• field-flow fractionation for separation of macromolecules and nanoparticles from 1-1000 nm, utilized successful conjunction pinch on-line ray scattering and different discovery technologies to quantify molar wide and size

Wyatt besides offers, connected a constricted basis, sample study services utilizing its unsocial technologies.