Arcis Biotechnology has signed a commercial distribution agreement with Opentrons. The agreement allows Opentrons to directly distribute Arcis’ sample preparation kits to laboratories globally, and integrate it into its own technology.
Arcis’ two-step, rapid nucleic acid extraction and preservation technology enables researchers to work with a wide range of samples to prepare RNA and DNA for downstream analysis in under three minutes, without the use of beads, spin columns, harsh solvents or heat-to-prepare samples.
Under the terms of the agreement, Arcis’ novel product portfolio will be 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.
The collaboration provides researchers with an automated and high-throughput solution for sample preparation workflows.
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.”
Will Canine, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer of Opentrons, explained: “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.”
Canine added that this reinforces the company’s aim to support scientists’ day-to-day workflow and to ultimately speed up scientific discovery.
The Arcis sample preparation reagents will be available for purchase through Opentrons later this summer.
