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.

Written byNicoya Lifesciences
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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,” ...

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