Metrion Biosciences’ Chief Commercial Officer, Dr Chris Mathes, treated his Metrion colleagues to an entertaining and informative internal seminar on his experiences within the industry and the evolution of automated patch clamp (APC) over the last 30 years.
Many companies and people were vying to be the first to bring their platform to market – a time that felt like the equivalent of the space-race!
Two main market forces drove companies towards developing APC platforms:
These two market forces provided a healthy competition between the different companies all working towards the development of an APC system. The first systems to be produced were the AutoPatch (CeNeS) and the NeuroPatch (Neurosearch, later Sophion). However, these first systems lacked scalability due to their reliance on glass pipettes - it had become apparent that planar technology was needed to evolve APC to a more high-throughput and efficient system.
Other early APC companies included Cytion (Switzerland; acquired and later dropped by Molecular Devices), Flyion (Germany; made the FlyScreen), CytoCentrics (Germany; made the CytoPatch), Cellectricon (Sweden) and Fluxion (USA; made the IonFlux which is now part of Cell Microsystems).
Axon developed the PatchXpress, a platform that utilised planar electrophysiology with chips provided by Aviva Biosciences. At the same time, Molecular Devices were producing their first automated platform- the IonWorks HT. Molecular Devices purchased Axon in 2004, bringing both APC systems under the same roof. Continuing development of the IonWorks machines resulted in the IonWorks Quattro and then the IonWorks Barracuda - the first multihole system in 2010.
The two market leaders of APC (and the only major players remaining) are Nanion and Sophion. Nanion started with the PatchLiner, a 16-channel system but eventually evolved into their popular SynchroPatch lines. Meanwhile, Sophion have offered the QPatch range since 2005 before announcing the release of the Qube in 2012. Both Sophion and Nanion’s sophisticated systems are used world-wide, driving impactful progress in ion channel pharmacology.
Chris highlighted the importance of collaboration and healthy competition in ensuring APC has become a major technology in the drug discovery field and a technique that will continue to be significant for many years to come.
| 1995-2000 | First automated patch clamp systems were developed (Neuropatch by Neurosearch and AutoPatch by CeNes) in response to demand for higher throughput ion channel screening for pre-clinical drug discovery and later cardiac safety. |
| 1997 | Seldane taken off the market by the FDA for potentially causing fatal arrhythmias. Several other hERG blockers taken off the market, too. The FDA started developing the initiative to provide a guidance that all drugs going to market would need to be tested against hERG using patch clamp. |
| 2002 | First automated, commercial electrophysiology system released (OpusXpress by Axon Instruments; 8 channel-automated oocyte voltage clamp system). |
| 2003 | Molecular Devices launched the first high-throughput automated patch clamp system (IonWorks HT; 384 channels). |
| 2004 | Axon Instruments launched the first giga-seal automated patch clamp system (PatchXpress; 16 channels using Aviva SealChips). |
| 2005 | US FDA published official guidance regarding hERG testing for IND enabling studies. Sophion launched the QPatch (16 channel automated, gigaseal patch clamp). |
| 2006 | Nanion launched the PatchLiner (16 channel automated, gigaseal patch clamp with internal solution exchange). |
| 2009 | Fluxion launched the IonFlux for ligand-gated ion channel screening. |
If you’re interested in automated patch clamp to advance your project, or unsure if it’s the right approach for you, speak with our specialist scientific team who will be able to advise.
Metrion Biosciences’ Chief Commercial Officer, Dr Chris Mathes, treated his Metrion colleagues to an entertaining and informative internal seminar on his experiences within the industry and the evolution of automated patch clamp (APC) over the last 30 years.
Many companies and people were vying to be the first to bring their platform to market – a time that felt like the equivalent of the space-race!
Two main market forces drove companies towards developing APC platforms:
These two market forces provided a healthy competition between the different companies all working towards the development of an APC system. The first systems to be produced were the AutoPatch (CeNeS) and the NeuroPatch (Neurosearch, later Sophion). However, these first systems lacked scalability due to their reliance on glass pipettes - it had become apparent that planar technology was needed to evolve APC to a more high-throughput and efficient system.
Other early APC companies included Cytion (Switzerland; acquired and later dropped by Molecular Devices), Flyion (Germany; made the FlyScreen), CytoCentrics (Germany; made the CytoPatch), Cellectricon (Sweden) and Fluxion (USA; made the IonFlux which is now part of Cell Microsystems).
Axon developed the PatchXpress, a platform that utilised planar electrophysiology with chips provided by Aviva Biosciences. At the same time, Molecular Devices were producing their first automated platform- the IonWorks HT. Molecular Devices purchased Axon in 2004, bringing both APC systems under the same roof. Continuing development of the IonWorks machines resulted in the IonWorks Quattro and then the IonWorks Barracuda - the first multihole system in 2010.
The two market leaders of APC (and the only major players remaining) are Nanion and Sophion. Nanion started with the PatchLiner, a 16-channel system but eventually evolved into their popular SynchroPatch lines. Meanwhile, Sophion have offered the QPatch range since 2005 before announcing the release of the Qube in 2012. Both Sophion and Nanion’s sophisticated systems are used world-wide, driving impactful progress in ion channel pharmacology.
Chris highlighted the importance of collaboration and healthy competition in ensuring APC has become a major technology in the drug discovery field and a technique that will continue to be significant for many years to come.
| 1995-2000 | First automated patch clamp systems were developed (Neuropatch by Neurosearch and AutoPatch by CeNes) in response to demand for higher throughput ion channel screening for pre-clinical drug discovery and later cardiac safety. |
| 1997 | Seldane taken off the market by the FDA for potentially causing fatal arrhythmias. Several other hERG blockers taken off the market, too. The FDA started developing the initiative to provide a guidance that all drugs going to market would need to be tested against hERG using patch clamp. |
| 2002 | First automated, commercial electrophysiology system released (OpusXpress by Axon Instruments; 8 channel-automated oocyte voltage clamp system). |
| 2003 | Molecular Devices launched the first high-throughput automated patch clamp system (IonWorks HT; 384 channels). |
| 2004 | Axon Instruments launched the first giga-seal automated patch clamp system (PatchXpress; 16 channels using Aviva SealChips). |
| 2005 | US FDA published official guidance regarding hERG testing for IND enabling studies. Sophion launched the QPatch (16 channel automated, gigaseal patch clamp). |
| 2006 | Nanion launched the PatchLiner (16 channel automated, gigaseal patch clamp with internal solution exchange). |
| 2009 | Fluxion launched the IonFlux for ligand-gated ion channel screening. |
If you’re interested in automated patch clamp to advance your project, or unsure if it’s the right approach for you, speak with our specialist scientific team who will be able to advise.
Metrion Biosciences’ Chief Commercial Officer, Dr Chris Mathes, treated his Metrion colleagues to an entertaining and informative internal seminar on his experiences within the industry and the evolution of automated patch clamp (APC) over the last 30 years.
Many companies and people were vying to be the first to bring their platform to market – a time that felt like the equivalent of the space-race!
Two main market forces drove companies towards developing APC platforms:
These two market forces provided a healthy competition between the different companies all working towards the development of an APC system. The first systems to be produced were the AutoPatch (CeNeS) and the NeuroPatch (Neurosearch, later Sophion). However, these first systems lacked scalability due to their reliance on glass pipettes - it had become apparent that planar technology was needed to evolve APC to a more high-throughput and efficient system.
Other early APC companies included Cytion (Switzerland; acquired and later dropped by Molecular Devices), Flyion (Germany; made the FlyScreen), CytoCentrics (Germany; made the CytoPatch), Cellectricon (Sweden) and Fluxion (USA; made the IonFlux which is now part of Cell Microsystems).
Axon developed the PatchXpress, a platform that utilised planar electrophysiology with chips provided by Aviva Biosciences. At the same time, Molecular Devices were producing their first automated platform- the IonWorks HT. Molecular Devices purchased Axon in 2004, bringing both APC systems under the same roof. Continuing development of the IonWorks machines resulted in the IonWorks Quattro and then the IonWorks Barracuda - the first multihole system in 2010.
The two market leaders of APC (and the only major players remaining) are Nanion and Sophion. Nanion started with the PatchLiner, a 16-channel system but eventually evolved into their popular SynchroPatch lines. Meanwhile, Sophion have offered the QPatch range since 2005 before announcing the release of the Qube in 2012. Both Sophion and Nanion’s sophisticated systems are used world-wide, driving impactful progress in ion channel pharmacology.
Chris highlighted the importance of collaboration and healthy competition in ensuring APC has become a major technology in the drug discovery field and a technique that will continue to be significant for many years to come.
| 1995-2000 | First automated patch clamp systems were developed (Neuropatch by Neurosearch and AutoPatch by CeNes) in response to demand for higher throughput ion channel screening for pre-clinical drug discovery and later cardiac safety. |
| 1997 | Seldane taken off the market by the FDA for potentially causing fatal arrhythmias. Several other hERG blockers taken off the market, too. The FDA started developing the initiative to provide a guidance that all drugs going to market would need to be tested against hERG using patch clamp. |
| 2002 | First automated, commercial electrophysiology system released (OpusXpress by Axon Instruments; 8 channel-automated oocyte voltage clamp system). |
| 2003 | Molecular Devices launched the first high-throughput automated patch clamp system (IonWorks HT; 384 channels). |
| 2004 | Axon Instruments launched the first giga-seal automated patch clamp system (PatchXpress; 16 channels using Aviva SealChips). |
| 2005 | US FDA published official guidance regarding hERG testing for IND enabling studies. Sophion launched the QPatch (16 channel automated, gigaseal patch clamp). |
| 2006 | Nanion launched the PatchLiner (16 channel automated, gigaseal patch clamp with internal solution exchange). |
| 2009 | Fluxion launched the IonFlux for ligand-gated ion channel screening. |
If you’re interested in automated patch clamp to advance your project, or unsure if it’s the right approach for you, speak with our specialist scientific team who will be able to advise.