PharmaFluidics

PharmaFluidics was a Belgian company that developed and manufactured micro-chip-based chromatography columns for the life sciences industry. Founded in 2010 as a spin-off from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) by Paul Jacobs and Gert Desmet, the company was established to commercialize a novel approach to liquid chromatography (LC). The founders combined expertise from analytical chromatography and semiconductor manufacturing to create their signature product, the micro Pillar Array Column, or µPAC™.

The company's core technology involved using lithographic etching, a technique from the semiconductor industry, to create a perfectly ordered separation bed on a silicon chip. This design of freestanding pillars in an array contrasted with conventional LC columns that use randomly packed beads. The µPAC™ columns offered higher resolution, sensitivity, and reproducibility, allowing for the identification of more compounds in complex biological samples like proteome digests, biopsies, and biopharmaceutical actives. The technology's benefits included improved data productivity and robustness, particularly for analyzing small sample volumes.

PharmaFluidics targeted biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies involved in biomarker research, proteomics, and drug research and development. The business model focused on manufacturing and selling these proprietary µPAC™ cartridges, which were compatible with standard nano-LC and capillary LC systems. The company engaged in partnerships and collaborations to expand its market reach, including a significant agreement with Thermo Fisher Scientific in 2018 to create an integrated front-end platform for mass spectrometry instruments. After several funding rounds, PharmaFluidics was acquired by Thermo Fisher Scientific on November 1, 2021. The acquisition was intended to complement Thermo Fisher's existing chromatography solutions and extend its analytical capabilities for biopharma customers.

Keywords: liquid chromatography, micro-chip columns, pillar array technology, proteomics, biomarker discovery, biopharmaceutical analysis, mass spectrometry, analytical instruments, µPAC, separations science, nano-LC, capillary LC, drug research, diagnostics, lab-on-a-chip, microfluidics, Thermo Fisher Scientific, life sciences tools, analytical separation, chemical engineering