Corporate Retrospective 2007: Pickering
Pickering Laboratories began in September 1980.
Pickering Laboratories began in September 1980. We had a single, patented product, a ready-made, stable ninhydrin reagent that was marketed to dedicated amino acid analyzer users. Incorporation followed in December 1981 and soon after, the product line included the columns, eluants, and hardware to allow for gradient amino acid analysis on any ternary, single-temperature HPLC.
Our specialty in bringing post-column derivatization to modern HPLC now includes official USEPA, AOAC, FDA, and a large variety of custom methods. The main focus for these protocols, recognizing that chemical reactions are involved, is controlling the purity of the chemicals. A purity of 99% may sound good, but depending on the intended use, the 1% can be and often is boss. That is why general chemical suppliers will not warranty any chemical for any use. However, pure chemicals react inexorably, thus we are able to provide "Guaranteed Chemistry" by controlling what we exclude from the chemicals and formulations.
Throughout the years, our company has kept its focus on developing new post-column methods and reagents. The latest include specific post-column reagent for sulfonamide sweeteners such as saccharin, acesulfame K, and cyclamate; a multi-residue mycotoxin method, and improved protocols for nitrite/nitrate and bromate analysis. And introduction of the latest model of our post-column derivatization instrument with its unique features such as pulse-free syringe pump and temperature gradient column oven allows us to bring our customers unmatched sensitivity and selectivity of analysis.
Though Pickering Laboratories is best known for its post-column derivatization presence in the analytical market, we have never been limited to chromatographic applications. We developed the first artificial human eccrine perspiration with ingredients and amounts based on analytical data. Because perspiration can damage contacted surfaces, many industries have need to use artificial perspiration to test their products. Our formulation is now available from Crime Sciences, Inc. for quality control in forensic determination of latent fingerprints on documents.
We will continue utilizing our expertise in preparing pure chemicals and chemical formulations to help our customers find the correct solution for guaranteed chemistry.
Maria Ofitserova
Maria Ofitserova, Ph.D.
Senior Research Chemist
Pickering Laboratories, Inc.
AI and GenAI Applications to Help Optimize Purification and Yield of Antibodies From Plasma
October 31st 2024Deriving antibodies from plasma products involves several steps, typically starting from the collection of plasma and ending with the purification of the desired antibodies. These are: plasma collection; plasma pooling; fractionation; antibody purification; concentration and formulation; quality control; and packaging and storage. This process results in a purified antibody product that can be used for therapeutic purposes, diagnostic tests, or research. Each step is critical to ensure the safety, efficacy, and quality of the final product. Applications of AI/GenAI in many of these steps can significantly help in the optimization of purification and yield of the desired antibodies. Some specific use-cases are: selecting and optimizing plasma units for optimized plasma pooling; GenAI solution for enterprise search on internal knowledge portal; analysing and optimizing production batch profitability, inventory, yields; monitoring production batch key performance indicators for outlier identification; monitoring production equipment to predict maintenance events; and reducing quality control laboratory testing turnaround time.
