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908 Devices launched its new bioprocess analyzer, the Rebel™, at last month’s Bioprocessing Summit in Boston. The benchtop analyzer allows biopharma researchers to accelerate process-development cycles and maximize their bioreactor utilization by running media analysis at-line, anytime.
“We’re focused on building disruptive products that enable customers to make critical decisions when and where they need to,” says Kevin J. Knopp, PhD, CEO and co-founder of 908 Devices. “The Rebel does just that by equipping process development labs, or pretty much anyone who cultures cells and uses cell media, with immediate answers. It provides a solution for the common struggle all early-stage biopharma candidate programs experience and helps them bring promising therapeutics to market faster.”
“We discovered that despite the presence of some analyzers in cell culture and bioprocessing groups, they’re limited in what they can actually analyze,” notes Glenn Harris, PhD, director, integrated life sciences platforms, 908 Devices. “Over the last twenty-to-thirty years, researchers in process- development labs have focused on measuring just a few metabolites and nutrients in cell media. Whenever they needed more information about what was happening metabolically inside their bioreactors or shake flasks, they had to send samples to their core analytical facilities or to a third-party testing lab and endure a two-to-three week turnaround time for data. This process prevents any real-time decision making by bioprocess engineers.”
The Rebel puts control in the bioprocess researcher’s hands, continues Harris. Its small, self-contained footprint fits alongside bioreactors in process-development and cell culture labs. Samples can be run at-line in about seven minutes, eliminating the core lab delay, he explains.
“It takes calibration and data analysis off the scientists’ plate completely, providing quantitative identification and analysis on a panel of more than 30 analytes, including all the key amino acids, biogenic amines, water soluble vitamins, and dipeptides. The Rebel is built for cGLP/cGMP environments, integrating reporting, automated performance qualification and 21 CFR Part 11–compliant software,” continues Harris, who says the Rebel brings two key innovations to the bioprocessing market.
“The analyzer only requires about 10 microliters of sample to run the assay. That’s incredibly important for process-development labs that are using smaller format microbioreactors and multiwell plate–based cultures,” he explains. “Just being able to take a single droplet once or multiple times a day and get a quick screen on everything that’s in the sample from a bioreactor is truly enabling.”
Minutes, not days or weeks
The other key advantage of using the Rebel is that anyone in a process-development or cell culture group can run it, says Harris.
“This is an analyzer that’s not built only for a PhD in analytical chemistry. This is for biologists,” he points out. “With that in mind, there is not a tradeoff in accuracy and the workflow to bring a sample from a bioreactor into the analyzer has been streamlined to get an answer rapidly.”
At the Bioprocessing Summit, Harris says several bioindustry veterans told him that they wished they had a Rebel fifteen-to-twenty years ago. Limited analytics have been a pain point for all big biopharma and biotech companies, notes Harris.
“They are investing in bringing more bioreactors online to optimize more candidate processes and to carry out more experiments. But they aren’t expanding those essential analytical tools needed to characterize what’s happening in the bioreactors,” he explains. “The Rebel is a purpose-built solution to address many of those bottlenecks.”
Both during and after the Summit, organizations not part of 908 Devices’ exclusive early access council told company representatives that they wanted to get quickly involved with the Rebel, according to Harris.
“That’s led to a number of great discussions. Less than a week after the show we received an overwhelming number of invitations to give talks and provide demonstrations,” he says. “So, the Rebel has received an incredible reception.”
For more information visit: info.908devices.com/rebel