Hamilton to provide an Automated Solution for Production of Procogniaís Functional Human Protein Arrays

MAIDENHEAD, England & BONADUZ, Switzerland - Procognia, a leading developer of innovative proteomic technologies and Hamilton Life Science Robotics, a leading provider of automated robotic solutions have entered into a collaboration for the automated growth and handling of content for Procognia’s functional human protein arrays. Hamilton has defined and developed a bespoke automation for the handling of proteins grown in baculovirus in insect cells based upon the use of the Hamilton Microlab STAR and expertise provided locally in the United Kingdom and via the Customized Solutions Group of Hamilton, Bonaduz, Switzerland.  Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Procognia has developed proprietary tag technology to create the first arrays of biologically-related human proteins that retain their native functions in the array format. Procognia is growing the proteins in insect cells rather than in bacteria to insure that the post translation modifications of the proteins are more similar to those of humans. The robotic handling of large numbers of cultures using Hamilton’s Microlab STAR is increasing the efficiency of production of the proteins. The first protein array in Procognia’s pipeline of products contains wild type human p53 and its important germline SNP variants. The p53 protein is implicated in most cancers when its normal function to suppress tumor growth is reduced or lost through variation in its sequence. Procognia’s functionally arrayed SNP variant proteins will be the first tool that enables researchers to investigate the mechanism of cancer progression on many proteins in parallel. These arrays are being distributed by Sigma-Aldrich. Hamilton's automation solution features the Microlab STAR liquid handling workstation. Hamilton’s air displacement technology and independent tip positioning system allows accurate and contamination free pipetting. Hamilton’s automation expertise and the flexibility of their platform allows them to offer novel approaches in the automation of liquid handling and application to a diverse range of projects. “Hamilton has provided a solution to Procognia’s robotics needs. This system will meet the productivity demand of our aggressive pipeline of biologically related proteins” said Ron Long, CEO of Procognia. About Procognia: Procognia is focused on developing and commercializing its transforming proteomic technologies that will enable the unraveling of disease mechanisms and the discovery and development of drugs to treat those diseases. In addition to developing protein function arrays, Procognia has also developed and is marketing a lectin array based platform that enables the high throughput, automated monitoring of protein glycosylation. Glycosylation is the major post translational modification of protein drugs, and it is the most difficult aspect to monitor and control during the discovery and development of biologic medicines. Procognia’s glycan monitoring technology will increase the probability of success of glycoprotein drugs. Procognia was formed in April 2002 with a corporate headquarters and manufacturing in Maidenhead, United Kingdom. Commercial operations are run from the United Kingdom and Exton, PA, United States, and supported by R&D facilities in United Kingdom and Ashdod, Israel. www.procognia.com About Hamilton:Hamilton Life Science Robotics is a global company based in Switzerland and the US, specializing in the design and manufacture of liquid handling workstations and complete automation solutions for the laboratory.  Hamilton provides innovative and quality automation solutions for organizations in analytical, biotechnology, clinical and industrial settings worldwide.

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