Thermo Fisher Scientific’s FAIMS-based LC/MS Analytical Method is Validated by A&M Labor fuer Analytik to Ensure Human Safety in Drug Development

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., the world leader in serving science, today announced that researchers in Germany’s A&M Labs have validated a method that uses innovative Thermo Scientific high-Field Asymmetric waveform Ion Mobility Spectrometry (FAIMS) technology to remove interferences from a drug analysis. Using this method, the researchers can adhere to the guidelines of the FDA to ensure human safety in drug development. Unforeseen analyte interferences can cause validated LC-MS methods to fail, resulting in costly delays in obtaining data from clinical trials. Another impact of co-eluting interferences is data misinterpretation, which could cause dosing errors in human test subjects. The method was presented to the scientific community at the annual LC/MS workshop in Wuppertal, Germany on November 13, 2007.

Dr. Axel Roemer, research leader at A&M, presented the findings. “We were very impressed with how the Thermo Scientific FAIMS system allows us to remove interferences with our drug analysis method,” said Dr. Roemer. “Keeping at the forefront of science is important for us to bring new therapies to patients.”

The FAIMS interface for the Thermo Scientific TSQ Quantum™ series of mass spectrometers works in combination with the H-ESI and APCI ion probes at atmospheric pressure to increase selectivity during analysis. FAIMS provides additional ion filtering, resulting in LC-MS/MS chromatograms with reduced chemical background and endogenous interferences.

“We are pleased that Dr. Roemer and his team at A&M Labs could develop a validated LC-MS assay using FAIMS technology with such significance to human health,” said Jim Kapron, Strategic Marketing Specialist at Thermo Fisher Scientific.