Success Stories - Making the Move into Laboratories Worldwide

NRC's Institute for National Measurement Standards (INMS) in Ottawa has launched a new spin-off company, Ionalytics Corporation, which intends, through the unique capabilities of innovative instrumentation, to introduce the new FAIMS mass spectrometry method to chemical analysis around the world.

Ionalytics is led and staffed by four former members of INMS' Chemical Metrology Group – Roger Guevremont, Randy Purves, David Barnett, and Barbara Ells – and has attracted significant support despite the current atmosphere of caution in the high-tech investment community. Genesys Capital Partners Inc. of Toronto, a venture capital investor specializing in the funding of biotechnology companies, has provided $2M of start-up funding.

FAIMS: enhancing the capabilities of mass spectrometry

FAIMS stands for high-Field Asymmetric waveform Ion Mobility Spectrometry, an enhanced method of separating ionized molecules based on their properties in strong electric fields.

Mass spectrometry (MS) involves the separation of atomic or molecular ions on the basis of differences in mass. MS is predominantly used in the analysis of organic compounds, and in this capacity it is the most versatile and sensitive method for analysis available today. Mass spectrometer instruments are used in areas such as proteomics and drug discovery, the detection of chemical and biological agents for security applications, and in the monitoring of environmental waste.

In the late 1990s, researchers in the Chemical Metrology Group discovered a method to trap ions at atmospheric pressure using an instrument with the ability to separate the ions based on their different mobility characteristics in the presence of alternating high and low electric fields. The instrument seemed ideally suited to boost the capabilities of mass spectrometers used in laboratories and in the field. The researchers inserted their innovative device between an electrospray ion source and a mass spectrometer, and substantially enhanced results were achieved immediately. The combination of FAIMS with MS suggested the possibility of eliminating the need for the time-consuming separations by liquid chromatography or capillary electrophoresis currently required in many MS applications.

A collaborative approach to technology development

Further experimentation demonstrated the feasibility of FAIMS mass spectrometry technology and in 1999 MDS-SCIEX, Canada's premier manufacturer of mass spectrometry equipment, joined INMS in a shared $1 M collaborative agreement to pursue the research.

The Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Alberta was also intrigued by what the Chemical Metrology Group had come up with. Researchers at the university were studying disinfection byproducts in municipal drinking water and the potential of FAIMS technology to enhance detection was something they could not ignore. In 1999, the university sent a postdoctoral fellow to work with the team at INMS. The resulting publication, which detailed the improvement in detection delivered by FAIMS, has attracted the interest of US Environmental Protection Agency officials.

The drive to the marketplace

By mid-2000, the FAIMS team at INMS was confident that their technology was sufficiently mature to bring to the marketplace. After consideration of the options available to accomplish this, spinning-off under NRC's spin-off incubation program was determined to be the most efficient in terms of time-to-market as well as the further development of the technology.

As long-time collaborators, MDS-SCIEX was brought into the loop during spin-off negotiations and the company maintains an active interest in what Ionalytics may accomplish. Several other international manufacturers and distributors of mass spectrometry instruments, including Thermo Finnigan and Micromass, are also paying close attention.

And, there are other avenues with promise. The pharmaceutical industry, for instance, has shown interest in the potential FAIMS has to simplify isomer separation, a process that currently involves complex chromatography or derivatization techniques. FAIMS offers the possibility of on-line, direct separation of isomers on a millisecond time scale. This could save an untold amount of resources in the preparation of pharmaceuticals.

Though a new player in Canada's high-tech infrastructure, Ionalytics has advantages in addition to the broad appeal of its product. As the original NRC developers of the technology, the Ionalytics team has a breadth of know-how, expertise and contacts that give them an edge in the competitive technology marketplace. Located at the Industry Partnership Facility, the company enjoys the support of their former colleagues at INMS. The Institute's Chemical Metrology Group will continue to perform feasibility studies for potential FAIMS applications that Ionalytics may wish to pursue.

Given the possibilities, the Ionalytics vision – FAIMS in every MS laboratory- does not seem out of reach.

Related Links:

• 2002 FPTT Technology Transfer Award - IONALYTICS
• Canada's Best in Technology Transfer Honoured for Outstanding Achievements
  (June 6, 2002)
• Startup Ionalytics wins seed funds
  (November 10, 2001)
• Ionalytics, Epocal get funds from new biotech VC
  (January 15, 2002)

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