A Complete Solution for Drug Discovery

1
UNSEALING
A Complete Solution for Drug Discovery
ASSAY
STORAGE
SEALING
RESEALING
2
Advantage

• TekCel supplies automation products that assist
  laboratories in managing and handling microplates
  in their screening and drug discovery process.
• TekCels family of workbenches incorporates the
  companys mission of small footprint, high
  storage capacity, true mobility, and future
  expandability.

3
Product Objectives

• Keep it small portable
• Deliver it fast
• Depend on it to work
• Have as much functionality as possible
• Give more Bang for the Buck

4
Cost Complexity vs Productivity

Custom
Integrated
Systems
Off-the-Shelf
TekBench Solutions
Integrated Systems
Liquid Handlers
High Cost
Low Cost
High Complexity
Low Complexity
5
34Wx75Hx50D
34Wx52Hx50D
57Wx75Hx34D
11.8 ft2
11.8 ft2
13.5 ft2
37.1 ft2
6
Assay TekBench
4 interchangeable pipettors and/or pin tools with
wash
15 position RT-50 incubator
8 position chilled reagent drawer
Bar code reader
5 deck locators
Tabletop for custom and off-the-shelf equipment
252 storage positions
Totally enclosed
7
Assay TekBench Space Requirements

• Space efficient, compact footprint
• Wheels easily through a standard doorway
• Arrives assay ready No assembly required

Comparisons for a Typical Assay System
Assay TekBench Less than 1/2 the size A fraction
of the cost
8
Pipetting Tools

• Wash gallery
• Flow through wash routine
• Multiple steps, compressed air, vacuum,
  solvents
• 96 fixed tip 1-195 ul
• 384 fixed tip 1- 35 ul
• 96 detachable tip1-195 ul

9
Wash Routines for Fixed Tip Pipettors

• Double O rings
• Teflon plungers retract to allow flow through
  of
• solvents
• Compressed air Vacuum for solvent removal.
• Can wash offline

10
384 Tool Validation - Pipetting Accuracy
8 ul Tartrazine Aspiration
8 ul
1.3 mM Tartrazine
1 ul Dispense to Dry Plate
Dry
2 ul Dispense to Dry Plate
Dry
5 ul Dispense to Dry Plate
Dry
Read plates 405 nm
11
384 Tool Validation- Pipetting Accuracy-
Results(Customer Data)
CVs 5ul 2.80 2ul 3.65 1 ul 6.14
5 ul
2 ul
1 ul
12
384 Tool Validation - Carry over
20 ul Tartrazine Transfer
1.3 mM Tartrazine
1.3 mM Tartrazine
Wash tips
20 ul Water Transfer
H20
H20
Read plate 405 nm
13
384 Tool Validation - Carry over
-Results(Customer Data)
Carryover indistinguishable from
background Below the detection window of the
reader
1 ul
carryover
14
TekBench Software

• TekBench Controller

• Method Editor

• Drawer Layout

15
Configured for ELISA
16
Bead-Based Assays
384, 96
Off line SPA, F, Lum
Shakers
Washer/ Filtration
Locator
Bead Mixer
17
Throughput Analysis
1 source to 1 screening plate
18 cycles(18 plates)/hour
1 source to dilution 1 screening plate
15 cycles(15 plates)/hour
1 source to 3 screening plates
12 cycles(36 plates)/hour
4x 96well source reformatting to 1x 384 well
source
6 cycles(6 x 384 well plates)/hour
Plate transport
aspirate
dispense
tool (de)attachment
mix
wash
18

What about Handling and Storage?

• Extensive screening efforts... means a lot of
  microplates to handle, store retrieve
• Automated screening replication is a given...
  but people still feed the systems
• Sealing unsealing of microplates is problematic

19
Laboratory Work Flow
20
Mega System On-line Storage

• Pros
• Eliminates manual handling
• May improve chemistry by reducing
• unsealed time
• Con's
• Supports one system or facility
• Big! needs dedicated space
• No redundancy if fails
• Upgrade in large chucks
• Costly

21
Modular Storage

• Pros
• Supports multiple systems
• Fits into existing facilities
• Easily expands
• Add modules as library grows
• Redundancy
• Eliminates re-shuffling
• Transportable
• Excellent for characterized libraries
• Less cost/square foot
• Cons
• Portability means library is less dense

22

• Now that you have storage modelWhat about
  sealing?
• Long duration plate storage needs effective
  sealing to prevent degradation
• As storage capacity increases, so does sealing
  labor and storage duration

23
Existing Sealing Technology
Lids/Covers Adhesive Sealing Heat Sealing Cap
Mats Septum Vials
Not Effective

Difficult to Automate
Incompatible with many pipettors
24

25
SealTite
26
PlateSeal
27
PlateServerTM
Anhydrous, inert atmosphere
Hand-off arm
Front access for manual loading 8 cassettes of 34
sealed plates 272 TOTAL
Supports multiple PlateStores
Exchange track
Mobile
28
Inside PlateServer
SealTite removal stations
Thawing racks
Robot arms
Handoff arm
Stacker racks
Cache positions
29
PlateStore
1000 Microplates 96-well 88,000
samples 384-well 352,000 samples 1536-well
1,408,000 samples
-20 C to RT Anhydrous, inert atmosphere Light
shielded AirSled technology Exchange track Random
access Tracking
30
Software Communication

• All devices within a cluster communicate through
  a Message Center
• Each device logon to a Message Center
• Devices pass to the message center the types of
  messages they wish to receive
• All Messages are formatted in XML
• XML provides
• Dynamically Configured
• Increased speed of access of data
• Fully Extensible

Error Handling Logs all data
Messaging Center
Main Application Update GUI
Hardware Objects Robots, Barcode Readers, Track
etc
31
Database Structure

• Each device contains a db to hold information
  pertaining to that device
• Each cluster has a db to roll up information from
  each device and also hold cluster specific
  information
• Each Site has a db to roll up information from
  each cluster contained with the customers site

32
Views

• Users
• Create
• Edit
• Delete
• Pick Lists
• Create
• Edit
• Delete
• Import
• Export
• Project view
• Create
• Edit
• Delete
• Error Logs
• View
• Run Logs
• View

33
PlateStore to TekBench, from TekBench to
PlateStore
34
Modular

• Exchange Track
• Links modules together
• Allows plate transfer between
• modules - PlateServer, PlateStore
• Deck resources on TekBench
• available to multiple devices

35
Easily Interfaced to Other Automation

36
Vision Family of TekBenches

37
Summary

• Complete HTS process
• Unique handling, sealing and storage
• Unmatched size and functionality
• Flexible, expandable, mobile, enclosed
• Fits into existing facility
• Reliable and Efficient
• Simple, robust design
• Combination robots, stackers, conveyors

38
Summary

• Cost effective
• Modularity enables buy as need
• Use with existing automation solutions
• Productive
• Throughput PlateServer 60 - 180 plates/hour
• Innovative sealing/unsealing technology
• Maintain sample integrity
• Reduced exposure to unknown compounds
• Lower cost/plate than competitive systems