SCIEX is a manufacturer of mass spectrometry instrumentation used in biomedical and environmental applications. Originally started by scientists from the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies, it is now part of Danaher Corporation with the SCIEX R&D division still located in Toronto, Canada.

History

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SCIEX was founded in 1970 by Canadian scientists Barry French,[1] a professor at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS), Neil Reid, Adele Buckley, and businessman William Breukelman, to develop a mass spectrometer system based on atmospheric pressure ionisation and direct air sampling. Breukelman was also co-founder and former CEO of IMAX Corporation.

In 1981 SCIEX was acquired by MDS Inc., a Canadian medical services and equipment company[2]. A joint venture was formed with PerkinElmer for sales and marketing of the inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS) product line. In 1986, the joint venture was extended to include the liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC/MS) business,[3] managed through the Applied Biosystems division of Perkin Elmer.

In 2008, Applied Biosystems merged with Invitrogen to form Life Technologies.[4] In 2009 Danaher Corporation paid approximately $1.1 billion[5] to buy SCIEX from MDS and the Applied Biosystems/MDS SCIEX joint venture business from Life Technologies. The business unit now operates as SCIEX within the Life Sciences Division of Danaher, and is one of the major players in the mass spectrometry business estimated (in 2018) at $5.5 billion world wide.

Real-time air monitoring

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The first SCIEX product, introduced in 1979, was the TAGA – Trace Atmospheric Gas Analyzer - which used atmospheric-pressure chemical ionization (APCI) for direct air analysis[6]. Use of a cryopumped vacuum system run by a liquid helium compressor allowed the instrument to be mounted in a large van for mobile operation, and operated while in motion to monitor concentrations of air pollutants. In 1981 the TAGA 6000, the first commercial triple quadrupole mass spectrometer[6] was introduced, also in both lab-based and mobile configurations. Systems were acquired by, among others, government environmental agencies in Ontario[7] and New York State, and the USEPA,[8] and have been used in various applications such as tracking fugitive emission plumes from industrial sites[9], analysis of gases from contaminated homes in the Love Canal area and for air monitoring in the Gulf area after the BP spill in 2010[10]. In 1979 the TAGA 3000 was used for real-time monitoring of toxic gas plumes of chlorine, styrene and other gases released from the Mississauga train derailment and fire[11] providing timely information for emergency personnel[12].

Inductively-Couple Plasma/Mass Spectrometry (ICPMS)

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In 1983 SCIEX introduced the first commercial ICPMS system for inorganic analysis.[13] Shortly after introduction, a joint venture was formed with Perkin Elmer to market and sell this product. The ICPMS joint venture business was fully acquired by PerkinElmer in 2010.[14]

Contraband detection

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In 1984 a joint venture was formed between MDS SCIEX and British Aerospace to develop a tandem mass spectrometer system for contraband detection[15].  Based on the TAGA platform, the AROMIC was a triple quadrupole instrument that was part of the CONDOR, an integrated contraband detection system for screening shipping containers for the presence of drugs and explosives[16] [17].  The CONDOR system consisted of a large X-Ray facility for imaging whole shipping containers, combined with the AROMIC mass spectrometer system to sample container air space for the presence of vapours and particulates indicative of the presence of drugs, alcohol or explosives. Designed for rapid screening of containers at border crossings, systems were sold and installed in two countries in the Middle and Far East[18]  .

Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS)

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While the TAGA system with the atmospheric pressure ion source was modestly commercially successful in the 1980s in the domain of air analysis and contraband detection, it did not attract the attention of the analytical community until it was interfaced to a liquid chromatograph. In collaboration with Professor Jack Henion at Cornell University and Dr. Peter Dawson at the National research Council of Canada, the first application of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry-mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) was demonstrated on the TAGA 6000 in 1982[19]. This proof of concept lead to the development of the SCIEX heated nebulizer LC interface for APCI, reported at the 31st Annual Conference on Mass Spectrometery and Allied Topics in Washington in 1983[20]. The first of the commercial atmospheric pressure techniques to use pneumatic nebulization, the heated nebulizer allowed the full LC flow to enter the ion source. Shortly after, also in 1983, LC-MS-MS using ion evaporation, a spray method similar to electrospray but compatible with higher flow rates of up to 1 mL/min, was demonstrated on the TAGA 6000, but was not commercialized[21]. The development in 1987 of the ion spray LC interface by Andries Bruins, Tom Covey and Jack Henion at Cornell University[22], combining pneumatic nebulization with electrospray ionization, offered the significant promise of providing high sensitivity and compatibility with typical LC flow rates. The API III LC-MS-MS system introduced by SCIEX in 1989 provided both ion spray and heated nebulizer LC inlets on a triple quadrupole platform based on the TAGA 6000 architecture. It was the second commercial LC-MS in the market[23], and the first that provided electrospray ionization[24]. The atmospheric pressure spray methods of electrospray, ion spray and APCI which helped to drive the burgeoning LC-MS market are now available on a wide variety of MS platforms and from a variety of vendors[24] in an LC/MS market that grew to $3.68 billion by 2019[25].

In 1998 the cryopumped API III platform began to be replaced with turbo-molecular-pumped single and triple quadrupole mass spectrometer products that evolved from the API 2000 (benchtop) and API 3000 to the current API 7500 series.

In the 1990s a collaboration with physicist Ken Standing’s group at the University of Manitoba led to the introduction of the QSTAR quadrupole/time-of-flight (QTOF) instrument in 1999[26], which evolved into the present day line of benchtop X-Series and ZENO TOF series products.

In 2010 SCIEX acquired the liquid chromatography business of Eksigent Corporation and now offers a range of liquid chromatographs that couple to their mass spectrometers. The SelectION differential ion mobility spectrometer was introduced as an alternative method of separation in front of the mass spectrometer.

Linear ion trap

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The QTrap, introduced by SCIEX in 1995, is a linear ion trap consisting of a quadrupole mass filter that can act as either a mass filter or a trap/scan mass spectrometer.[27]

Patent infringement lawsuit

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In 2002, MDS (at that time owner of SCIEX) and joint venture partner Applied Biosystems, won a $52.6 million dollar judgement against Micromass UK for infringement of U.S. Patent No. 4,963,736 that describes a method of ion focusing using RF fields and gas collisions.[28]

References

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  1. ^ General, Office of the Secretary to the Governor. "Dr. J. Barry French". The Governor General of Canada. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  2. ^ "MDS Sciex, Division Of MDS Inc., Concord, Ontario". www.companylisting.ca. Retrieved 2022-05-16.
  3. ^ "Applied Biosystems and MDS Inc". www.sec.gov. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  4. ^ "Invitrogen Corporation And Applied Biosystems Complete Merger". biospace.com. Retrieved 2022-04-19.
  5. ^ Obel, Mike; Writer, AP Manufacturing. "Danaher buying MDS, Life Technologies unit". phys.org. Retrieved 2022-04-19.
  6. ^ a b Cappiello, Achille (2006-12-05). Advances in LC-MS Instrumentation. Elsevier. ISBN 978-0-08-046798-6.
  7. ^ Chen, QF (2002). "Air Monitoring Of A Coal Tar Cleanup Using A Mobile TAGA LPCI MS MS". Journal of Hazardous Materials. B91 (1–3): 271–84. doi:10.1016/S0304-3894(01)00395-8. PMID 11900918.
  8. ^ "MDS Annual Report. 1985" (PDF). 1985-01-01. Retrieved April 11, 2022. The US Environmental Protection Agency took delivery of its first TAGA 6000 system for its Emergency response Team. P9.
  9. ^ DeBrou, Gary B. (1991). Air quality survey (TAGA 6000), Reichhold Limited, North Bay July, 1989 : report. Ontario Ministry of the Environment. [Toronto] : Environment Ontario. ISBN 978-0-7729-7998-8.
  10. ^ "Trace Atmospheric Gas Analyzer (TAGA) Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Data for BP Spill/Deepwater Horizon - June 2010 - CKAN". catalog.data.gov. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  11. ^ "Mississauga Miracle: Remembering the disaster that forced 240,000 people to flee". cbc.ca/news. November 9, 2019. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  12. ^ Lane, DA; Thomson, BA (1981). "Monitoring a Chlorine Spill from a Train Derailment". Journal of the Air Pollution Control Association. 31 (2): 122–127. doi:10.1080/00022470.1981.10465198. ISSN 0002-2470.
  13. ^ "Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics". www.sciencedirect.com. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  14. ^ "PerkinElmer Purchases Mass Spec Joint Venture from Danaher's AB Sciex". Genomeweb. 2010-02-26. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  15. ^ "MDS Annual report 1985" (PDF). digital.library.mcgill.ca/hrcorporatereports. 1985. Retrieved April 11, 2022. The AROMIC Cargo Examination System is designed for the detection of trace quantities of contraband such as explosives, firearms, drugs and alcohol. The product was developed as a result of a fifteen year joint venture agreement with British Aerospace PLC, that has adopted SCIEX proprietary technology for this application. British Aerospace has sold the first two systems, which are to be delivered to a Middle East country in 1986.
  16. ^ Pasilis, Sofie P.; Van Berkel, Gary J. (2017), "Modern Atmospheric Pressure Surface Sampling/Ionization Techniques in Mass Spectrometry", Encyclopedia of Spectroscopy and Spectrometry, Elsevier, pp. 819–829, doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-803224-4.00063-7, ISBN 9780128032244, retrieved 2022-04-11
  17. ^ Government of Canada, Public Services and Procurement Canada. "Information archivée dans le Web" (PDF). publications.gc.ca. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  18. ^ "AVIATION BRIEFS | JOC.com". www.joc.com. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  19. ^ Henion, JD; Thomson, BA; Dawson, PH (March 1982). "Determination of sulfa drugs in biological fluids by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry". Analytical Chemistry. 54 (3): 451–56. doi:10.1021/ac00240a023. ISSN 0003-2700. PMID 7072965.
  20. ^ Gelpí, Emilio (July 27, 2009). "From large analogical instruments to small digital black boxes: 40 years of progress in mass spectrometry and its role in proteomics. Part II 1985-2000: Analog to digital: 40 years of progress in MS". Journal of Mass Spectrometry. 44 (8): 1148. doi:10.1002/jms.1621.
  21. ^ Iribarne, J. V.; Dziedzic, P. J.; Thomson, B. A. (1983). "Atmospheric Pressure Ion Evaporation-Mass Spectrometry". International Journal of Mass Spectrometry and Ion Physics. 50: 331–347.
  22. ^ Bruins, Andries P.; Covey, Thomas R.; Henion, Jack D. (1987). "Ion Spray Interface For Combined Liquid Chromatography/Atmospheric Pressure Ionization Mass Spectrometry". Analytical Chemistry. 59: 2642–2646.
  23. ^ "The Top 10 Milestones in MS". The Analytical Scientist. Retrieved 2022-05-28.
  24. ^ a b Today, Chromatography. "The fascinating history of the development of LC-MS; a personal perspective". Chromatography Today. Retrieved 2022-05-28.
  25. ^ https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com, Coherent Market Insights. "Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry Market Size By 2027". www.coherentmarketinsights.com. Retrieved 2022-05-28. {{cite web}}: External link in |last= (help)
  26. ^ Gelpí, Emilio (2009). "From large analogical instruments to small digital black boxes: 40 years of progress in mass spectrometry and its role in proteomics. Part II 1985-2000: Analog to digital: 40 years of progress in MS". Journal of Mass Spectrometry. 44 (8): 1140. doi:10.1002/jms.1621.
  27. ^ Sandra, K; Devreese, B; Van Beeumen, J; Stals, I; Claeyssens, M (March 2004). "The Q-Trap mass spectrometer, a novel tool in the study of protein glycosylation". Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry. 15 (3): 413–23. doi:10.1016/j.jasms.2003.11.003. ISSN 1044-0305. PMID 14998545. S2CID 44486624.
  28. ^ "Applied Biosystems, MDS Win Patent Suit Against Micromass; Victors Awarded $47M". Genomeweb. 2002-03-15. Retrieved 2022-04-22.