Nicoya Launches Alto, the World’s First Digital Benchtop SPR System, to Accelerate Drug Discovery

Nicoya, a leading provider of advanced analytical instruments for the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, today announced the launch of Alto, the world’s first fully-automated, high-throughput benchtop surface plasmon resonance (SPR) system.

| 2 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
2:00
Share

As the first-ever SPR instrument to integrate digital microfluidics (DMF), artificial intelligence (AI), and nanotechnology, Alto provides high quality, label-free interaction analysis. This breakthrough product reduces the time and cost of drug discovery, enabling scientists to better understand and cure human diseases faster.

Unlike other SPR instruments in the market today, Alto uses DMF technology. DMF is a liquid-handling technology capable of accurately controlling and manipulating discrete nanoliter droplets with electricity. It removes the need for any physical pumps, valves, or tubes; instead replacing them with a low-cost disposable cartridge that is compatible with the standard well-plate form factor. This enables highly accurate and repeatable measurements of kinetics and affinity, without labels and with extremely small sample volumes.

“We’ve spent years working with the world’s leading scientists and researchers to better understand the issues they experience with SPR, including high costs, low throughput, frequent downtime, and complex assay design requirements,” ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here
Share
A greyscale image of cells dividing.
March 2025, Issue 1

How Do Embryos Know How Fast to Develop

In mammals, intracellular clocks begin to tick within days of fertilization.

View this Issue
Discover the history, mechanics, and potential of PCR.

Become a PCR Pro

Integra Logo
3D rendered cross section of influenza viruses, showing surface proteins on the outside and single stranded RNA inside the virus

Genetic Insights Break Infectious Pathogen Barriers

Thermo Fisher Logo
A photo of sample storage boxes in an ultra-low temperature freezer.

Navigating Cold Storage Solutions

PHCbi logo 
The Immunology of the Brain

The Immunology of the Brain

Products

Sapio Sciences

Sapio Sciences Makes AI-Native Drug Discovery Seamless with NVIDIA BioNeMo

DeNovix Logo

New DeNovix Helium Nano Volume Spectrophotometer

Olink Logo

Olink® Reveal: Accessible NGS-based proteomics for every lab

Olink logo
Zymo Logo

Zymo Research Launches the Quick-16S™ Full-Length Library Prep Kit