When a 45-minute run in process development turns into a barrier, ACQUITY UPLC H-Class System saves the dayThe client: Small biopharmaceutical firm focused on natural productsLocation: Northern Germany

The ACQUITY UPLC H-Class

System is actually a money-

saver, using up to 95% less

solvent than HPLC systems

and priced less than a

standard UPLC.

Facing t he demands

Everything was going along quite smoothly for this small biopharmaceutical company

in the quiet German countryside. The company had five Agilent 1100 systems in their

installed base. One of them was used in process development as well as a Waters Alliance®

HPLC. Running a typical analysis took about 45 minutes. Resolution was fine. Although

they had seen and been impressed with Waters’ binary ACQUITY UPLC® System, the

company didn’t really feel they needed the ‘Ferrari of chromatography,’ nor could they

comfortably afford it.

Until one day, a new big project came into the lab.

The status quo was suddenly changed and 45-minute run times were no longer acceptable.

This small German firm needed a way to improve their methods, reduce their run times,

and improve the resolution of their separations… or risk losing control of the process.

With this new project also came a greater emphasis on compliance. Everything absolutely

had to be within the guidelines of U.S. FDA 21 CFR Part 11.

What to do?

examining the options

Option 1: They could purchase two or three HPLCs and squeeze them into the lab.

Option 2: They could buy one UPLC® system. But then what would happen to their

HPLC methodologies?

Agilent was the preferred vendor for this client, so there was some sentiment for buying

Agilent 1200s. The Waters Alliance HPLC with Empower™ Software had done an excellent

job and also had its share of supporters.

But there was one other choice.

Option 3: A new technology unlike either HPLC system – the ACQUITY UPLC H-Class

System from Waters.

Waters Corporation 34 Maple Street Milford, MA 01757 U.S.A. T: 1 508 478 2000 F: 1 508 872 1990 www.waters.com

Waters, ACQUITY UPLC, Alliance, and UPLC are registered trademarks of Waters Corporation. Empower and T he Science of What’s Possible are trademarks of Waters Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

©2011 Waters Corporation. Produced in the U.S.A.April 2011 720003957EN EXT LB-PDF

Finding the solution

Yes, the department head and analysts had heard and read about

the revolutionary new instrument from Waters. But everything

they had heard was so glowing; it only raised questions in

their minds.

“Could the ACQUITY UPLC H-Class really do the work of two

or three HPLC instruments?”

“Was transferring between HPLC and UPLC actually going to

be simple?”

“Were the chromatographic resolution and sensitivity truly on

the same high levels as Waters traditional UPLC systems?”

The only way to answer so many questions would be to conduct

a sample analysis.

Which is exactly what happened at the Waters demonstration

laboratory in Eschborn, Germany. The ACQUITY UPLC H-Class

was put through its paces for a day. Its main objective was the

analysis of the compounds of interest that normally took the client

45 minutes to complete. With the ACQUITY UPLC H-Class it took

five minutes!

And with better resolution.

The customers could barely believe what they had seen in

the result report.

And because they owned an Alliance HPLC system, transferring

methods from HPLC to UPLC was a simple, intuitive procedure.

All their questions were being answered, plus there were other

benefits they had not considered. One of which was the precise

sampling made possible by the innovative flow-through needle

design of the new Sample Manager (SM-FTM), delivering high-

precision injections with excellent sample recovery.

Even the worries over budget were put to rest. They found out the

ACQUITY UPLC H-Class System is actually a money-saver, using

up to 95% less solvent than HPLC systems and priced less than a

standard UPLC.

Rounding out the result was Waters’ new version of Empower

Software with enhanced 21 CFR Part 11 compliance capabilities.

t he sale

The client purchased one ACQUITY UPLC H-Class System

with Empower standalone workstation software. Even though

their kind of biomolecular analysis is not always easy, this

biopharmaceutical company has been extremely happy with the

performance of the ACQUITY UPLC H-Class System. In fact, the

Agilent system used in process development has been transferred

to another department.

The customer already had six binary ACQUITY UPLC Systems

up and running. This client had history with Waters. From an

instrument perspective, an application perspective, and a support

perspective, they knew that whatever Waters promised,

Waters delivered.