New generation biochip on display at Chips to Hits conference

Packard BioScience Co. (Meriden, CT) is previewing a model of its next generation biochip production platform at IBC Chips to Hits biochip industry conference in Philadelphia. The next-generation BioChip Arrayer is manufactured and distributed by the company's newly formed Packard BioChip Technologies subsidiary, and keeps the company on schedule with its previously disclosed strategic product plans.

The system will employ Packard's patented Piezo Tipnology, a non-contact drop-on-demand piezoelectric dispensing technology. Packard has licensed this printing technology to Motorola Inc. to aid them in the development of their three-dimensional bioarray platform. The new system will provide high-throughput biochip manufacturing capabilities to companies interested in producing content biochips and microarrays to serve the pharmaceutical, biotech and diagnostics industries. It is expected to be available commercially mid-2001.

"Inkjet printing has advantages in precision and reliability, and thus is well suited for the production of high-quality chips," said Frank Witney, president and COO of Packard BioScience Co. "Our second generation microarraying dispenser has been redesigned with the input of customers in the genomics and proteomics fields to optimize speed and production capability. With double the number of PiezoTip dispensers and four times the deck space, this system has a production yield of ten times its predecessor."

Packard BioScience Co. develops, manufactures, and markets instruments and related consumables and services for use in the life sciences research and nuclear industries. The company is primarily focused on the areas of drug discovery, genomics, and biochip analysis and is continuing to develop integrated platforms based on a wide range of technologies and instrumentation. Recently, Packard has focused on the development of enabling biochip technologies, and has started to exploit its pioneering biochip production patents through both direct sales of biochip products as well as through licensing agreements with other biochip manufacturers such as Motorola.

For more information, contact Mike Zebarth of Packard BioScience at 203-639-2340 or mzebarth@packardbioscience.com.

Edited by Laura DeFrancesco
Managing Editor, Bioresearch Online
Email: ldefrancesco@bioresearchonline.com

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