Redefining Technology: Xochitl Javier from Thermo Fisher Scientific in Conversation with PharmaShots

Shots:

Raman Analyzers are widely used in the biopharma industry to analyze different substances. Based on the principles of Raman Spectroscopy, Raman Analyzers provide information about their chemical composition and structure when interacting with laser

Today, at PharmaShots, we have Xochitl Javier, Director, Product Management & Marketing, Thermo Fisher Scientific, shedding light on the TruScan G3 Handheld Raman Analyzer

TruScan Handheld Raman Analyzer is a portable and user-friendly device that provides next-generation identification of raw materials for biopharma companies.

Saurabh: Could you acquaint our viewers by shedding light on the Raman Analyzer?

Xochitl: Raman analyzers have been used by leading pharmaceutical companies around the world for years, and it’s a trusted technology for confident and fast analysis for a variety of different substances. The Thermo Scientific TruScan G3 Handheld Raman Analyzer is a portable and user-friendly device that allows for next-generation raw material identification for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, allowing companies to prioritize overall efficiency with simplified workflows to get lifesaving medications to patients faster.

Like a lab in the palm of your hand, the handheld Raman analyzer allows both novice and experienced operators to quickly perform identity testing on incoming starting materials, verify in-process substances and differentiate finished drug products to ensure quality and compliance throughout the manufacturing process. It can easily identify a variety of matrices within seconds, which makes the handheld analyzer particularly useful for the analysis of a broad range of raw material ingredients, chemical compounds and complex samples across pharma research workflows.

Saurabh: Would you explain to our viewers its mechanism and how it accurately verifies materials?

Xochitl: The TruScan G3 Handheld Raman Analyzer is Raman spectroscopy, simplified. Raman spectroscopy employs a laser to interact with the molecules in a sample and provide information about their chemical composition and structure. When the laser beam interacts with the molecules in the sample, the result is a scattering of light at different wavelengths, which is known as a Raman scattering. This scattering is unique to each compound, like a molecular fingerprint, and allows users to accurately identify the presence of specific compounds or verify the identity of a material.

Raman spectroscopy is commonly used in the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries, as it offers highly accurate verification of materials. For pharma and biopharma companies, a handheld Raman analyzer allows for straightforward, confident results so that manufacturers can quickly and efficiently identify a substance of interest.

Saurabh: What new features should we expect in the latest iteration Of Raman Analyzer?

Xochitl: Aside from allowing for accurate material verification in near real time, the TruScan G3 Handheld Raman Analyzer offers several features and benefits to allow users to easily integrate the technology into their existing workflows for overall efficiency. The TruScan G3 analyzer offers an intuitive user experience thanks to a built-in touch screen display with enhanced tactile feedback keypads, which can be easily maneuvered even when the operator is wearing safety gear, such as thick Nitrile gloves. It’s a modern device, with options such as embedded Wi-Fi for seamless and secure data transfer to ensure data compliance.

Many pharma and biopharma manufacturers use handheld analyzers for in situ testing, so the TruScan G3 Handheld Raman Analyzer offers a new immersion probe so that users can easily test solids and liquids without making contact with the materials or substances. Lastly, this technology comes with an updated compound library so that operators can investigate unknown materials.

Saurabh: How does this technology help in cost-cutting and saving time?

Xochitl: As highly regulated industries, pharma and biopharma manufacturers must ensure that all materials used in production are identified and documented. The TruScan G3 Handheld Raman Analyzer offers an alternative to the traditional and time intensive in-lab analysis, which may take several days for results. The handheld analyzer can rapidly provide information on raw materials so manufacturers can quickly and efficiently identify the compounds and continue with their workflow. The rapid analysis ensures that manufacturers can save time and keep all operations well documented.

The TruScan G3 Handheld Raman Analyzer is also non-destructive, so users aren't losing valuable, and often expensive, materials by testing. This allows for efficient quality control throughout the production and product development process. Furthermore, it can also be used in other applications, such as identifying counterfeit materials. This means that pharmaceutical companies can use the same, familiar technology for a wide variety of use cases. This overall efficiency, ultimately, allows pharma and biopharma companies to deliver their goal of getting lifesaving therapies to patients as quickly ask possible.

Saurabh: What modifications can be incorporated into Raman Analyzer that could meet the unmet needs of the present and the future?

Xochitl: There are several trends in the pharmaceutical industry that life sciences technology providers will need to meet so that customers can continue to create more efficiency throughout the drug discovery and development process. Today, there are trends of portability and miniaturization that are likely to continue. As we see across industries from life sciences to consumer goods, products are getting smaller. The TruScan G3 Handheld Raman Analyzer was designed to fit in the palm of the user's hand so that they can access immediate analysis of raw materials without having to send samples to and from a lab for testing. We anticipate that pharmaceutical companies will continue to demand testing abilities within the production facility as a complement to off or near the line.

Increased sensitivity for raw material analysis is also highly valued, as it speaks to overall efficiency in manufacturing. There’s a critical need for the user to be able to quickly identify the compound so that the material can move on to the next stage in manufacturing or development – it keeps the line moving.

Lastly, next generation technologies, such as AI, are playing a much bigger role across industries. In the future, technology providers will need to consider how they can use AI capabilities to enable faster and more automated results. This may result in enhanced and more intuitive interfaces that contribute to overall ease of use or in more efficient data analysis.

Saurabh: What other upgrades do you seem to be focusing on at the moment? Do the goals have any developments?

Xochitl: Thermo Fisher Scientific is committed to staying at the forefront of technological innovation to help our customers do more science. From analytical tools that aid the development of cleaner energy solutions to technologies that advance drug discovery and development, all our teams are focused on developing the tools that scientists across industry and academia need to make the world a healthier, cleaner and safer place.

For the pharma and biopharma industries, this means getting better therapies for the patients who need them most, faster than ever before. When thinking about the TruScan G3 Handheld Raman Analyzer, we’re thinking about how we can make it as intuitive as possible for any operator to use, but also how we can expand the use case of the analyzer for pharma/biopharma manufacturers. From software upgrades to hardware iterations that make science even more accessible, Thermo Fisher Scientific is continuing to innovate and develop products that meet the current and future needs of our customers.

Image Source: Canva

About the Author:

Xochitl Javier

Xochitl Javier is the Director of Product Management and Marketing of the Field & Safety Instruments segment at Thermo Fisher Scientific. In this role, she leads the marketing teams which bring innovative solutions to market in Portable Raman, FTIR, X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) and Gamma Radiation Spectroscopy technologies serving customers in industrial, pharmaceutical and government sectors worldwide. Xochitl has held general management and marketing roles in various life sciences companies and holds a Bachelor of Science in Cell & Structural Biology.