KingFisher Flex Magnetic Particle Processor

Automated, high-throughput recovery of nucleic acid from complex samples with the Thermo Scientific KingFisher Flex Magnetic Particle Processor

Boost your lab's productivity by reducing hands-on sample preparation time, reducing costs, and increasing throughput. Intuitive to operate and pre-loaded with protocols, the KingFisher Flex system offers automated magnetic bead-based sample preparation for DNA and RNA. Effective bead collection and transfer leads to superior washing, efficient elution, and rapid processing, delivering reliable high recovery and consistent performance across a range of complex samples.

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Achieve higher productivity and greater consistency for bioproduction contaminant and impurity testing:

Automated sample prep processing
Up to 96 extractions in a single run
Minimal error with less hands-on time
Consistent and reliable data, day to day, month to month
Optimized protocols for Applied Biosystems PrepSEQ kits and resDNASEQ kits

KingFisher instrument
	Flex	Apex
Instrument size	Benchtop	Benchtop
Throughput level	Medium to high	Medium to high
Processing volume range	20–100 μL: 96-well PCR plate, skirted 20–200 μL: 96-well plate 50–1,000 μL: 96 deep-well plate	15–1,000 μL: 96 deep-well plate 15–200 μL: 96-well KingFisher standard plate 10–80 μL: 96-well PCR plate 30–200 μL: 96 storage tubes
Samples per run	96	96
Customizable protocols	Yes, with PC software	Yes, with touchscreen or PC software
Heating/cooling	From 5°C above ambient temperature to 115°C	From 4°C above ambient temperature to 100°C Cooling down to 4°C
Ultraviolet lamp	No	2 UV lamps, max 23 h 59 min
Size	68 x 60 x 38 cm; 26.77 x 23.6 x 14.96 in. (W x D x H)	78 x 59 x 45 cm; 31 x 23 x 18 in. (W x D x H)
Weight	28 kg; 62 lbs.	56 kg; 123 lbs.

The main differences are throughput, the number of samples per run, and the way the models handle the plates and process.

The KingFisher Flex (medium/high throughput), the standalone laboratory workhorse, processes up to 96 samples per run and is ideal for high-throughput SARS-CoV-2 testing

The KingFisher Apex is similar in specifications to the KingFisher Flex, but redesigned with additional capabilities for peak performance, adaptability, and usability such as a barcode scanner, a cooling block, and a UV decontamination lamp

One solution for DNA and protein impurity testing

Ensuring the safety of biologic drugs requires rapid and accurate screening methods for in-process testing during manufacturing. Automated high-throughput approaches offer the advantage of processing many samples quickly and reliably. The use of functionalized magnetic beads to capture and purify analytes of interest allows for sensitive and selective detection of target compounds. This technology has been incorporated into industry-standard PrepSEQ, resDNASEQ, and ProteinSEQ kits and is easily adaptable to a 96-well plate format. For automated sample analysis, the KingFisher Flex Magnetic Particle Processor offers a platform fully integrated with real-time PCR to quantify a broad spectrum of bioproduction impurities and contaminants using these specialized sample preparation and quantitation kits.

Technology
Related Products

The KingFisher Flex instrument, in combination with sample preparation and quantitation kits, can offer turnkey solutions that address critical customer needs for sensitivity, reliability, dynamic range, and automation in the screening of biologic drugs throughout the manufacturing process.

In conjunction with PrepSEQ Residual DNA Sample Preparation Kits, the KingFisher Flex Magnetic Particle Processor enables efficient extraction and superior purification of DNA and RNA from complex mixtures of proteins, buffers, and salts. The special formulation of the magnetic particles provided in the PrepSEQ kit ensures highly efficient, specific recovery of DNA with no cross-reactivity to unrelated DNA. The KingFisher Flex instrument uses optimized protocols to process samples for maximum extraction efficiency; a 96-well plate can be run in under 2 hours. Host cell DNA quantitation is carried out using the resDNASEQ kit with TaqMan real-time PCR technology.

The KingFisher Flex Magnetic Particle Processor also enables the use of ProteinSEQ technology in a high-throughput mode to screen for protein impurities such as host cell proteins (HCP) or leached Protein A. ProteinSEQ assays utilize antibody-coated magnetic beads to selectively capture proteins prior to real-time qPCR analysis. The KingFisher Flex instrument accelerates the ProteinSEQ workflow by automatically moving the sample and beads through capture and wash steps, antibody binding, additional washing, and ligation prior to qPCR quantitation (Figure 1). The KingFisher Flex instrument can process a 96-well plate in under 2 hours using a ProteinSEQ kit and enhances the workflow by increasing the number of samples measured on every run.

Figure 1: The KingFisher Flex Magnetic Particle Processor streamlines the workflow over traditional methods for high-throughput processing.

Bead-bound molecules ready for downstream analysis

Traditional: Transfer liquids, not beads

Loss of beads, and hence product, with liquid transfer
Current step contaminated by leftover liquid from previous steps
Higher elution volumes necessary

KingFisher: Move magnetic beads instead
of liquids

Superior purification
Contaminants left behind
High quality, concentrated end product

The Thermo Scientific KingFisher Flex Magnetic Particle Processor is ideal for high-throughput processing of nucleic acid extraction using functionalized magnetic particles. The patented technology of the KingFisher Flex instrument employs 96-well plates and magnetic rods covered with a specially designed disposable tip comb. Samples mixed with functionalized magnetic beads and reagents are dispensed into plate wells, and the tip comb is automatically loaded when the run begins. The instrument collects the magnetic beads from the solution and then releases the beads into plate wells containing reagents for the next step of isolation. The effectiveness of bead collection and transfer leads to superior washing, efficient elution, and rapid processing.