Covaris and Horiba Collaborate on New Particle Sizing Technology

Covaris, Inc., the leader in focused acoustic technologies for the life sciences, is pleased to announce the establishment of a marketing alliance with HORIBA Instruments of Irvine, CA, which is the U.S. sales and marketing division of HORIBA Limited of Kyoto, Japan. This alliance integrates the Covaris Adaptive Focused Acoustics (AFA) and the HORIBA particle sizing technologies into the world’s first fully automated formulation preparation station with integrated Process Analytical Technology (PAT).

Under the arrangement, the Covaris FS-220 GMP system will be integrated with HORIBA’s LA-950V2 platform, providing point-of-use particle size characterization. This PAT system is ideal for formulation preparation from early animal studies through First-In-Human (FIH) testing. With full 21 CFR Part 11 compliant software, the combined system offers a complete solution in cGLP/cGMP environments.

Carl Beckett, General Manager of Covaris Process Technologies, states that, “We are enthusiastic about this association. This combined system will accelerate drug development by improving the quality of studies up to and including FIH testing. Also, it reduces errors when handing off preparations between the Discovery and Development Research centers and the Contract Research Organizations (CRO) by allowing a completely automated and documented method development. Additionally, as our clients scale to FIH and ultimately clinical processes, they need to ensure the methods in development are phase appropriate and based on scalable technologies.”

According to Dr. Mike Pohl, Vice President of HORIBA’s Scientific Division, “Our client base ranges from startups to the largest multinational Pharma and Biotech companies. As a result of our entering into this relationship with Covaris, our clients gain access to the most advanced technology. It’s critical that the analytic and characterization capabilities keep pace with the formulation technology, through the entire discovery/development cycle.” Dr. Pohl notes that many pharmaceutical customers are located along the East Coast. “The combination of our Edison, NJ headquarters plus the Woburn, MA location of Covaris, Inc.; gives HORIBA a strong one-two punch to support these customers. The ability to automate the preparation of formulations, and then document the quality up front prior to a study, will now be readily accessible to our customers.”