About us
Spectralys Biotech offers analytical services for the biopharmaceutical industry with a specific expertise using four tools:
- FTIR spectroscopy: we have a highly-skilled team using our dedicated software with state-of-the-art spectrometers to analyse the unique structural fingerprint of biomolecules.
- AFM-IR: from January 2024, we have a cutting-edge machine to provide advanced images and IR measurements.
- CD spectroscopy
- HDX-MS: we have a specific expertise to use this tool for membrane proteins.
Our flexible methods have applications in structural characterization, stability studies, biosimilar comparability studies, batch consistency checks and epitope mapping for all biomolecules including RNA, peptides, proteins and antibodies.
We originated from an academic laboratory at Université libre de Bruxelles. There, researchers in the laboratory of Structure and Function of Biological Membranes (SFBM) have used infrared spectroscopy to analyse the structure and orientation of membrane proteins embedded in a lipid bilayer, characterising lipid properties or studying amyloid proteins. More recently, FTIR imaging and AFM-IR was also used for a number of investigations into pharmaceutical development and diagnostics.
Lately, one group in this laboratory focus on drug transporters and antibiotic resistance. The researchers have thus developed HDX-MS methods and workflows to study the conformational dynamics of these transporters.
We continue to work closely with academics from this lab, to ensure that we are always using cutting-edge methods and technology.
In 2013, we received a public grant to develop services for industrial companies, based on our expertise in FTIR spectroscopy. As a result, we established a wide range of collaborations with biopharmaceutical companies. Consequently, Spectralys Biotech was founded in October 2018. Since 2019, we carried out more than 100 projects with around 50 different companies (including Big Pharma, CMOs, and biotech) from countries located in Europe, Turkey and the United States.
Our team
We are Spectralys Biotech
Our team of highly skilled scientists with strong academic backgrounds provides cutting edge services to remove the risks related to the development and manufacturing processes for biopharmaceutical drugs and vaccines.
Spectralys
Our equipment
We have access to a dedicated laboratory with an HDX-MS platform, a cutting-edge AFM-IR system, one FT-IR imaging microscope, three state-of-the-art FTIR spectrometers, a high throughput measurement system and a large variety of accessories, including ATR sample holders, temperature-controlled cells, and a transmission cell polarizer.
We have also access to a circular dichroism (Biologics MOS-500) and PTI fluorometer (Photon Technology International).
Spectralys
Quality
At Spectralys, quality is key and is one of our main focuses. Our current practices are described in SOPs, including our protocols for measurements and data traceability.
In summary, raw data are stored in an organized manner on protected systems and only authorized users can access the data using a specific login and password on both the computer and recording software. Raw data traceability is also ensured by using secure lab notebooks. As a backup, data are stored encrypted in a system off-site with backups created every twenty-four hours.
Hear from our satisfied customers
Testimonials
Spectralys has been a valuable partner to our organization. Their structural analysis of our product has provided crucial information for both our clinical and preclinical formulation development programs.
Anders Sandberg | Sweden - Alzinova
Your report is really great! Very good explanation of the complicated methods and nice statistical approaches for showing the comparability. Really good reporting
Benjamin Müller | Germany - Biofidus
CuraVac has found Spectralys Biotech’s services to be of great added value for the in-depth characterisation of its immunotherapy products. The Spectralys team’s thorough expertise came along with a great care for timelines and budgets.
Nicolas Havelange | Belgium - CuraVac
We received from Spectralys in-depth structural analyses with detailed explanation for non-expert scientists. The data adequately supported the comparability assessment conducted for our immunotoxin. It was comprehensive and very informative for the further development of our product.
Maarten Frijlink | Netherlands - Xenikos