Shimadzu’s new Nexera Preparative Supercritical Fluid Chromatography System meets SFC purification needs for the pharmaceutical industry


[COLUMBIA, MD, USA] — Shimadzu Scientific Instruments (SSI), in partnership with the Enabling Technologies Consortium™ (ETC), announces the release of the Nexera Preparative Supercritical Fluid Chromatography System. This next-generation prep SFC system provides the pharmaceutical industry with reliable high-performance semi-prep purification.

The Nexera semi-prep SFC system is part of SSI’s Nexera UC platform, which accommodates a wide variety of analyses and purifications. The platform is based around the Nexera ultra-high-performance liquid chromatograph. Each Nexera UC semi-prep system is configurable to user specifications in order to optimally perform the desired purification function, including chiral or achiral purifications, single injections, stacked injections and fraction collections from several microliters to liters.

This complete SFC solution reduces the need for costly and hazardous solvents used in normal phase prep LC, while shortening purification run time and dry down time. Innovative technologies include a flexible format combination injector/fraction collector, CO2 pump with integrated chiller that requires less lab space and allows for benchtop use, a novel gas—liquid throughout separator (GLS) design to ensure high recovery and low carryover, and easy-to-use preparative software to streamline operations.

Importantly, the newly designed gas—liquid throughout separator realizes a higher recovery ratio and lower carryover than earlier SFC systems. Moreover, the elegant design of the new GLS reduces the total size of the recovery system and allows for easy rinsing compared to earlier cyclone-style or centrifugal-type GLS systems.

“The Nexera prep SFC system is an improved purification instrumentation that meets the specifications and requirements of SFC users across the pharmaceutical industry,” said Mirlinda Biba, PhD, principal scientist, Merck & Co. Inc., and ETC lead for this project. “This new-generation system provides improved hardware and software features that answer the pharmaceutical industry’s demand for an efficient and robust prep SFC system.”

“Working with the Enabling Technologies Consortium and hearing the voice of the pharmaceutical industry have been incredibly valuable learning experiences for us at Shimadzu,” said Patrick Fromal, VP sales, SSI. “Their insight into what’s truly needed by the industry drove this project forward, and we are very grateful for the opportunity to work with such an amazing team.

ETC is a forum for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to discuss ideas, share information and collaborate on the development of new enabling technologies. Based on SSI’s demonstrated success in the development of analytical and measuring instruments, technical expertise, resources, timeliness and collaborative spirit, through an open RFP process, ETC selected SSI as its dedicated partner to develop and commercialize this improved SFC system.

Click here for more information about the Nexera Prep SFC System.