Tecan and amaxa have successfully integrated the amaxa Nucleofector® 96-well Shuttle® System with the Tecan Freedom EVO® liquid handling workstation, allowing fully automated, high throughput transfection of primary cells and difficult-to-transfect cell lines, including non-dividing neurons and T cells, with siRNA, DNA and other substrates. The development is ideal for large-scale studies that involve high throughput transfection stages, such as RNAi-based screening for drug development.

The freely configurable Freedom EVO workstation provides precise and reliable liquid handling and can accommodate a wide range of modules, including a robotic manipulator arm to transfer labware to and from devices such as the 96-well Shuttle. The 96-well Shuttle relies on unique electroporation technology for transfection of primary cells with high efficiency and excellent survival rates. Integrating the 96-well Shuttle with the Freedom EVO workstation entirely removes all manual steps for cell preparation and transfection, allowing 96-well microplates to be completely processed in just minutes, depending on the protocol used. The integration enables, for the first time, transfection of primary cells in a fully automated environment, providing a valuable tool for research and drug discovery studies.

Please note: Not for use in clinical diagnostics.

About Tecan

Tecan (www.tecan.com) is a leading global supplier of solutions for the biopharma, forensic and diagnostic industries. The company is a leader in the development, production and distribution of advanced automation and detection solutions for the world’s leading life science laboratories. Through its REMP subsidiary (www.remp.com), Tecan is the premier supplier of large-scale automated laboratory storage and logistics systems. Founded in Switzerland in 1980, the company has over 1100 employees, owns production, research and development sites in both North America and Europe and maintains a sales and service network in 52 countries. In 2006, Tecan achieved sales of CHF 405.9 million (USD 324.7 million; EUR 258.6 million). Shares of the Tecan Group are traded on the SWX Swiss Exchange (TK: TECN/Reuters: TECZn.S/Valor: 12100191).

About amaxa

As a globally active specialist in nucleic acid delivery, amaxa's mission is to significantly enhance the speed and quality of pharmaceutical development and basic research in gene transfer, gene silencing, and gene-based medicine. To this end, amaxa develops and commercializes non-viral gene transfer products and leverages them for industrial and clinical applications. The Nucleofector® technology provides the first efficient non-viral method for transfer of DNA or siRNA - a process called “transfection” - not only into the cytoplasm, but also directly into the nucleus of cell lines and primary cells. Primary cells are freshly isolated from body tissue and difficult to transfect by other techniques. In the segment of primary cell transfection, amaxa is the worldwide market leader. Founded in 1998, amaxa is located in Cologne, Germany, and in Gaithersburg, MD, USA, and currently employs 150 people. The company's research team is one of the largest R&D groups working on non-viral gene transfer. For more information please visit www.amaxa.com.

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