Daresbury-based biotech firm Arcis has signed a distribution agreement with Opentrons, the company helping life scientists automate their applications using robotics.
Arcis specialises in developing products for biotechnology applications across multiple sectors, including molecular diagnostics, forensics, agriculture and advanced hygiene.
Its technology offers the possibility of earlier, more accurate diagnostics testing from a variety of sample types, using its rapid, two-step nucleic acid extraction and preservation technology.
The latest agreement sees Arcis’ novel product portfolio made available on the Opentrons OT-2 platform, an affordable lab robot with integrated electronic pipettes, designed to make automating lab protocols accessible to more laboratories.
Peter Whitehurst, CEO of Arcis Biotechnology, said: “After receiving feedback from scientists wanting to use Arcis reagents to process even more samples, we are proud to demonstrate automated and affordable solutions for RNA and DNA sample preparation for a breadth of applications.”
He added: “We look forward to working with Opentrons, a partner with both a powerful engineering team and a customer-centric commercial approach.”
Will Canine, co-founder and chief product officer, Opentrons, said: “Arcis’ reagent-only solution is a compelling offering for biologists, but when you automate that protocol, it offers a high-throughput sample preparation workflow for every molecular biology laboratory.
“This collaboration with Arcis demonstrates our commitment to support scientists’ day-to-day workflow and to ultimately speed up scientific discovery.”
