Custom, Sustainable Lyophilized Products

Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT) has announced a strategic partnership with Argonaut Manufacturing Services (Argonaut). Together, they will provide custom lyophilized reagents with the goal of eliminating the need for the cold chain and its associated environmental impact.

The partnership pairs IDT’s comprehensive offering of custom and GMP oligos, CRISPR enzymes, and PCR master mix reagents with Argonaut’s lyophilization (or ‘freeze-drying’) services, custom kitting options, and downstream shipping logistics. The resulting full-service pipeline enables clients to custom-design and order automation- and high throughput-ready GMP lyophilized IDT reagents in a variety of user-friendly formats, including unit-dose beads and multi-well plates. Beads eliminate small-volume pipetting errors and the need for freeze-thaw aliquoting, while lyophilized multi-well plates are ideal for high-throughput sequencing and molecular assay applications. The IDT-Argonaut partnership enables customers to unlock lyophilization advantages with reagents they already use and trust.

Lyophilization provides many benefits to both user experience and the environment. Lyophilized reagents are stable at ambient temperatures, and only require simple rehydration to be ready to use. This eradicates many sources of pipetting errors, while streamlining and simplifying workflows. Elimination of the cold chain reduces costs and carbon footprint, and importantly provides a positive environmental impact by reducing the need for the expanded polystyrene (EPS or ‘Styrofoam’) containers often used to ship temperature-controlled products. EPS is difficult to recycle and bulky for its weight, resulting in large landfill buildup.

Mark Nowakowski, Chief Technology Officer at Argonaut and head of their lyophilization program commented, “Lyophilization is changing the way we provide reagents for molecular diagnostics and RUO assays.  Not only will lyophilization enable a new wave of shelf-stable assays and point of care diagnostics, it will greatly reduce the impact of the biotechnology supply chain on our planet.”

IDT has an extensive sustainability program, and actively seeks opportunities to reduce its environmental impact and to support sustainability research in areas such as biodiversity and the creation of sustainable energy sources. Partnering with Argonaut provides yet another avenue to deliver a positive environmental impact by removing the need for cold chain and EPS in the shipping and storage of products, while at the same time improving the client experience with IDT’s premier product lines.

Carly Hodges, General Manager of Strategic Business Services at IDT commented, “At IDT we strive to provide the best products and solutions in formats that are most accessible and user-friendly for our customers. We recognized the many advantages that lyophilization will deliver, particularly for OEM and GMP manufacturers, including the positive and important environmental impact of eliminating the cold chain. We are excited to be partnering with Argonaut to offer these services and bring these benefits to our customers.”