SGS to Offer HDX–MS at West Chester Facility

On June 6, 2016, SGS announced that it will be offering hydrogen deuterium exchange mass spectrometry (HDX–MS) capabilities at its West Chester, Pennsylvania facility. This new service, which is currently undergoing installation, will assist in the full characterization of biological molecules, including biosimilars, SGS said in a press statement.

According to SGS, HDX–MS relies on proteins being exposed to deuterium water at extremely low temperatures, whereby hydrogen atoms on the outside of a folded protein molecule exchange with the deuterium atoms in the water at equilibrium. By analyzing the peptides on which atoms have been exchanged, detailed information on the protein folding can be obtained.

The HDX–MS service is expected to be introduced in quarter three of 2016 at the West Chester facility. SGS said it expects the addition of HDX–MS to increase the array of services for higher order protein analysis at the site, including circular dichroism, analytical ultra-centrifugation, size exclusion chromatography with multi-angle laser light scattering, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.