This might be one to watch out for... looked sort of interesting, anyway. The parent (The Technology Partnership plc), is a private company, and likely to remain so, but aims to spin out its subsidiaries. As I picked this up from an article in the FT, I would guess an IPO is planned sometime.
techprt.co.uk
The Technology Partnership (TTP) has collaborated with AstraZeneca and Rhône-Poulenc Rorer (RPR) to develop a novel platform - Acumen - for compound storage, high throughput screening (HTS) and follow-up screening.
The system consists of fully automated, laboratory-scale instruments that incorporate all the necessary functions of liquid handling, sample preparation, signal detection, and the analysis and presentation of results.
"Acumen is not just an evolution in screening, it is a revolution" says Hans Fliri, Director of HTS at RPR. "With Acumen we will be able to do things no system presently known can do. Acumen is a new technology for miniaturised high throughput screening, no longer based on the traditional concept of microtiter plates. Virtually all other approaches to miniaturised HTS are extrapolations of the classical 96-well microtiter plate. Acumen will allow the performance of multiple screens in parallel or to measure dose-dependence of the measured parameters directly in a single operation. Acumen allows the simultaneous reading of several parameters of interest. Acumen is based on a revolutionary concept to store compounds and perform assays. At the core of Acumen is a powerful, sensitive detector. We need to be thinking about the next generation of screening and not just to do more of what we have done before."
"Screening systems capable of efficiently delivering "leads" rather than the "hits" typical of present day, high throughput systems are urgently required" commented Dr John Major who is responsible for high throughput screening at AstraZeneca’s Alderley Park facility. "We would be much better placed if we could replace current low-information screens with ones that would allow secondary information to be gleaned at an earlier stage of the discovery process. The Acumen technology combines miniaturisation, automation and throughput potential with the capability of rapid multiparameter data collection and analysis. This should help us to reduce the time it takes to identify lead compounds with the potential to be developed as drug candidates."
"We are very confident about the potential of Acumen" commented Dr John Cassells, Head of Screening Systems Development at TTP. "The results so far prove that the technology is a major step forward. Acumen technology enables assays to be carried out that have been very difficult in the past, particularly at high throughput.The detector is so sensitive it allows measurements to be made on individual cells and of intracellular events."
The Acumen high throughput screening system
Acumen is the brainchild of TTP. It combines various aspects of TTP’s technology including a laser-based scanning detector, novel materials handling, liquid micro-dispensing and sophisticated software. Over the last 3 years TTP has been investing heavily in the Acumen technology. To ensure that the performance of the integrated system matches the screening requirements of pharmaceutical companies in the new millennium, TTP is working closely with major pharmaceutical companies who will help to set the specification of the system.
The Acumen platform combines a powerful laser scanning detector and rapid data processing/analysis software with novel approaches to both compound storage/handling and liquid micro-dispensing. The fluorescence/luminescence detector is capable of performing both single parameter assays on whole wells and multiparameter 2-dimensional assays on individual cells or beads. Acumen will bring to the end-user a screening platform capable of integrating a number of the process steps required for the discovery of new pharmaceutical lead compounds. Primary screening, dose response and kinetic determinations can be performed in a single continuous process on a single instrument....
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