Celebrating 10 years of successful partnership between
Beckman Coulter Life Sciences and Nanion Technologies
Nanion Technologies GmbH
Munich, Germany,
December 11th, 2023

Ten years ago, Nanion shipped the SyncroPatch 384PE automated patch clamp instrument to
its first ever customer. The launch of the SyncroPatch 384PE was preceded by an intense
period of innovation and development from scientists and engineers at Nanion, working
together with Beckman Coulter Life Sciences to introduce Nanion’s patch clamp module into
the Biomek FX liquid handler to make a revolutionary high throughput automated patch
clamp instrument. Ten years on, Nanion’s partnership with Beckman Coulter Life Sciences isstill going strong, with the further development of the SyncroPatch 384 incorporating
Beckman Coulter Life Sciences’ highly innovative Biomek i5 liquid handler.

The start of a fruitful collaboration
In 2012, Nanion embarked on a project toincrease throughput and enter the highthroughput arena with 384 simultaneous
automated patch clamp recordings withgiga-Ohm seals. With Nanion’s expertise inhigh quality patch clamp, it was natural toseek a leading provider of liquid handlers inorder to incorporate Nanion’s patch clamp
module, or ‘patch engine’, making a fullyfledged, high throughput automated patch
clamp instrument. At that time, theinnovative Biomek FXP from Beckman CoulterLife Sciences was a reliable, highly flexible
liquid handler already used in thousands ofresearch laboratories worldwide. The
adaptation of the Biomek FXP to incorporate
1 or 2 patch clamp modules wasstraightforward and was facilitated by theexceptional collaboration between the twocompanies. After less than 1 year ofdevelopment, the SyncroPatch 384PE wasfully operational and ready to be shipped tocustomers in December 2013! MichaelGeorge, CTO, Nanion Technologies said
about the collaboration: “It was therobustness and flexibility of the liquid handler
and its software that first attracted us toincorporate the Biomek FXP into theSyncroPatch 384PE.” He goes on, “We wereimpressed at how easily we could integrate
the patch clamp modules and the software
used to acquire the data with the Beckman
software for controlling the liquid handler”.
Niels Fertig, CEO, Nanion Technologies
added, “By working with one of the leading
providers of liquid handlers, we could be sure
to develop the best high throughput
automated patch clamp instrument for ourcustomers.”

1

Continuous innovation

Forging a strong partnership for the future

As part of its journey of continuous
improvement, in 2017 Beckman Coulter Life
Sciences announced the launch of the new
Biomek i-Series liquid handlers, building on
the success of the Biomek FXP by improving
features and extending the breadth ofapplications. The Biomek i5 is a highly
versatile system that caters to diverse
laboratory applications including genomics,proteomics, drug discovery, and synthetic
biology. Researchers can seamlessly
automate various processes, enhancing
efficiency and expanding possibilities.

Nanion and Beckman Coulter Life Sciences
are celebrating ten years of partnership toaccelerate answers for the life sciences
community. This partnership has led to
optimized workflows for service andpreventive maintenance offerings, which
benefits Nanion’s customers. Although all
Nanion’s instruments are serviced andmaintained by Nanion’s team of certified
engineers, they work closely with Beckman
Coulter Life Sciences’ engineers to ensuresmooth running of the Biomek i5 liquidhandlers and constant innovation of thepatch clamp technology for which Nanion isknown.

The Biomek i5 was chosen by Nanion for its
new SyncroPatch 384i, and later in 2020 for
its new and highly improved SyncroPatch
384, taking advantage of the reliability andexpanded deck space for direct integrations
on the i5 liquid handler. The thoughtful
design of the Biomek i5 made it possible toseamlessly integrate Nanion’s patch clamp
module and advanced temperature control.
Ewan Grant, Director of Liquid Handling andGenomics at Beckman Coulter Life Sciences,
commented: "The rewarding relationshipbetween Nanion and Beckman Coulter Life
Sciences has led to remarkableadvancements in the field, combining
expertise to deliver cutting-edge solutions
and empower researchers worldwide. This is
all part of our mission to deliver innovative
solutions to laboratories of all sizes, enablingthem to cut through the bottlenecks of errorprone and time-consuming manual steps,
empowering them to achieve results often
faster and with greater accuracy.”

The SyncroPatch 384 has found a place inacademic institutions, contract researchorganizations (CROs) and pharmaceuticalresearch laboratories alike, through its highflexibility coupled with high throughput.
Simon Rice, Electrophysiologist, at SB Drug
Discovery said, “The SyncroPatch 384 andBeckman Coulter Life Sciences i5 liquidhandling robot are seamlessly integrated,both complementing one another toproduce a high-quality, reliable platform
central to our ion channel drug discoverywork. This close relationship is highlighted by
the continual development of the platform,
striving to enhance HTS and liquid handlingcapabilities. The result is a system that meets
our demands and is complemented by
exceptional customer service – fast,insightful, and innovative”.

Nanion's SyncroPatch 384 platform (successor of SyncroPatch
384PE and SyncroPatch 384i) allows effortless high-throughput
ion channel screening coupled with high flexibility and reliability,
due to the combination of its patch clamp module with
Beckman Coulter Life Sciences’ new i-Series liquid handlingrobot Biomek i5.

2About Nanion Technologies

About Beckman Coulter Life Sciences

Nanion Technologies is a leading provider ofinstrumentation for ion channel drug
discovery and screening. Founded in 2002,
Nanion has grown over the last 21 years to acompany with over 120 employees
worldwide. Nanion’s team has developedand successfully established four generationsof APC instruments along with further
product lines for cell monitoring and toxicity
screening, parallel bilayer recordings, andmembrane transporter protein
measurements.

Life sciences. Research. Precision
manufacturing. If your life’s calling is in any ofthese or related fields, you need to know
Beckman Coulter Life Sciences. Our mission isto empower those seeking answers to life’s
important scientific and healthcarequestions. Since 1935, the Beckman namehas been synonymous with technologies that
simplify and automate complex biomedicaltesting. Decades later, our globalorganization also came to embody thescientific legacy of the Coulter name. Today,
Beckman Coulter Life Sciences is a trusted,worldwide resource for tools to help optimize
research and manufacturing efficiency.
Centrifuges. Particle counters/analyzers.
Automated liquid handlers. Flow cytometers.
Genomic reagents. All these products—andmany more—continue to make a differencein people’s lives by improving theproductivity of dedicated scientists, qualitycontrol experts and others. Wherever people
need answers, from prestigious universities
and major pharmaceutical companies tosmall biotech startups, food/beverage andelectronics manufacturing facilities, you canfind Beckman Coulter Life Sciences.

Contact Information
Nanion Technologies GmbHDr. Alison Obergrussberger
Scientific Communications Manager
ali@nanion.de+49 89 219095 078
For more details, visit www.nanion.de

Contact Information
Beckman Coulter Life Sciences
Matt McCutcheon
Global External Communications Manager
mmccutcheon@beckman.com
317-719-0557
For more details, visit www.beckman.com/contact-us3