Agilent Technologies Inc., has introduced the newest member of its family of triple quadrupole liquid chromatography mass spectrometers (triple quad LC/MS). The Ultivo triple quad is a transformative approach to LC/MS that integrates several hardware and software innovations designed to deliver even more improved business results for customers.
The food and environmental segments are important markets for Agilent. Ultivo’s seamless integration with the Agilent MassHunter Software suite provides high-performance instrument monitoring, data acquisition, analysis, and reporting for currently regulated and emerging environmental contaminants and pollutants in our water supplies. Also, Ultivo’s fine-tuning ensures rigorous accuracy, with selectivity, sensitivity, and precision monitoring, to deliver specific identification and quantitation of a wide range of contaminants, helping keep our worldwide food supplies safe.
Last month Jim Yano, Vice President of Marketing, Mass Spectrometry Division, Agilent Inc. USA, visited the country, accompanied by Bharat Bhardwaj, Country Manager, Agilent India, for the launch of their latest product, Ultivo, a Triple Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer., at the analytica Anacon India and India Lab Expo. NuFFooDS Spectrum had a chance to interact with them. Excerpts of the interview are here-
Please share a brief on the new product launched by Agilent.
Jim Yano: Ultivo, the newest LC triple quadrupole mass spectrometer is focused on high throughput food, environment, pharma and clinical research. It has robust operation. The product is 1/4th the size and saves laboratory space. The servicing and maintenance is easier. There is minimal cost of ownership, lifetime cost is low for servicing. 4 patents have been filed for those objectives.
Bharat Bhardwaj: Agilent is a leader in latest technology. Over the last few years, using the feedback we get, we have made a user friendly, smaller, fast track product. We have taken all parameters in to account while designing the new product – from a 6 ft. product to 1-1.5 ft. product – for lab owners and managers. This allows the lab to have a lot more instruments in a smaller footprint – plus we have uplifted the performance. The performance is better, size is smaller and it is easier to use, the cost of ownership is bare minimum. We started this journey 5 years ago, we just completed another round of lab manager surveys, globally – with over 700 lab managers – to make sure the product was still going to meet the customer’s lab requirements.
What advantages does the product provide to the Indian market?
Bharat Bhardwaj: This product exactly addresses the need of the Indian market, providing the latest technology, faster tests, simpler setting up methods and design, a special library, which takes care of all the work, which is globally collated, the results are already there in the library. The laboratory space is the most expensive. Residential space compared to lab space is cheaper. The smaller size allows you to accommodate more systems, offering a lot more profit. It is always about generating more business using minimum investment. Ultivo addresses the Indian market needs.
Jim Yano: Inputs from the customers who are using these instruments on a daily basis, other procedures, have told us that it’s the need of the hour. As manufacturers we have reduced the size, cost of ownership. We routinely bring specific, VIP customers to run the instrument and share feedback on how is the performance and changes we have made are meeting those objectives. We brought in two of the original tandem quad technology inventors Prof. Chris Y. & Prof. Chris R., who have the initial patent in 1970s – to make sure the product is meeting the key objective.
How will the food Industry in India benefit from this product?
Jim Yano: For this Ultivo, one of the key markets is centered around the Indian food market and food safety globally. Experience over the last 20-30 years has allowed us to create turnkey databases for specific pesticides which are measured globally. The database has information for 800 pesticides. So the consumer can run through things quickly using the database when they have to check food and pesticide applications without having to spend months in development. Putting that decades of learning and experience and putting that in a database with our customers in India to start running those applications is a matter of days than months.
Bharat Bhardwaj: From an Indian perspective, all of us would like to have safer food- similar to what FSSAI and other regulatory bodies have been doing now to upgrade the overall infrastructure in the country. We are working towards providing the right type of technology and solutions in order to help detect contamination, adulteration and presence of pesticides. That’s where we are able to use our global knowledge design for our Indian consumers – like our libraries that precisely address the Indian needs. In order to make it easy for us to export to other countries, we have to understand the environment from a regulatory point of view and have the right level of infrastructure or technology to meet those needs.
With the new technologies coming up at Agilent for the food sector, are there any plans to set up a food safety laboratory in India?
Bharat Bharadwaj: We do have application centers in India- Manesar and Bengaluru. We work with regulators to address the food safety needs. Food sample preparation and liquid gas face mass packs are some of the services we provide specifically for the food testing customers, but there are no plans for starting our own food testing laboratories.
How does Agilent plan on addressing the global water shortage?
Jim Yano: There is water shortage in areas having drought such as California. They have been conserving water and driving companies to more effectively and efficiently recycle water. We are involved with a lot of those agencies and companies in making sure the process of recycling water leads to clean drinking water for the society. That’s one of the areas we’re involved in for ensuring adequate and safe drinking water. The other segment is geographies where there is not a shortage of water but unavailability of clean, safe water. There are areas where they have water but it is contaminated. We work with government agencies around the world to produce technology to help them monitor water contamination for the entire population.
Bharat Bhardwaj: For India, we have been working with the government bodies from helping them upgrade their technologies for water to detect the contamination levels. We have been drinking packed water in offices and homes, but is that water fully compliable with our government’s standards. How would we know if there are any contaminants? We are trying to work out solutions so that everyone in India can have safe food and water.