AAT Bioquest: Striving To Innovate And Push The Boundaries Of Assay Technology

 

Throughout the last decade, the life-science tool industry has undergone rapid consolidation. This has affected the competition in some amount as there are only a few big players in the life-science industry. Nevertheless, customers are always drawn to the companies that deliver the best result. As a result, despite the price and delivery power of the dominant players, small players like AAT Bioquest has managed to be in the forefront. The company has gained a noticeable customer base, hence establishing itself on the map of biotech companies. The rapid introduction of new products and excellent technical supports enable the company to have an extremely loyal customer base.

AAT Bioquest was established in 2006 with a mission to innovate and push the boundaries of assay technologies. Today, almost after a decade, the commitment has stayed the same. Its unique, integrative approach to assay development draws from all fields of study, from chemistry to biology to informatics and more, leading to a wave of new generation photometric probes that utilize colorimetric, fluorimetric, and luminescent technologies. The company’s integrity is its core, as well as it’s the key to longstanding sustainability. AAT Bioquest comprises a team of passionate scientists and experts that seek to address some of the most challenging problems faced in life science research, diagnostic R&D, and drug discovery. Through the strong technical support and guidance of experienced professionals, AAT Bioquest provides superior products and customized services to a diverse portfolio of clients that range from small research institutions to Fortune 500 companies.

Enabling Solutions for Life Science Research and Drug Discovery

The company has established itself as a well-recognized leader in the markets it serves including, cell analysis, immunology, molecular biology, and high throughput screening. Its product lines have been designed with both productivity and flexibility in mind, these two qualities are invaluable in today’s fast-paced industry. The product catalog covers over 5000 items, and amongst them are Fluo-8®, Cal-520®, Cell Meter™, Amplite™, CytoTrace™, and CytoTell™, brands that have gathered recognition and praise in the life science research community. Fluo-8®, Cal-520®, and Calbryte™ have become the indispensable tools for analyzing intracellular calcium ion signals in real-time in live cells. Apart from this, Calcium ion and cAMP are the two most important messenger molecules for cell signaling.

Recently, AAT Bioquest has introduced the most sensitive fluorescence imaging technology called the Power Signal Amplification™, or PSA™ that made some rarely expressed receptors possible detected for the first time. It offers the largest and most completed product portfolio for analyzing cellular functions, in addition to this, its secondary detection product line has also gained considerable attention in the immunological tests. These products are ranked amongst the best offerings in the immunological test department. Its ROXtra fluorescence calibration standards and StrandBrite™ RNA quantification have become important tools for performing PCR tests. Also, its Screen Quest™ high throughput screening kits are well known and used by most of the drug discovery labs worldwide.

A Curious Scientist and Serial Entrepreneur

“Innovation is the seed of growth and the driving force towards sustainability,” says Zhenjun Jack Diwu (Co-Founder, President, and CEO at AAT Bioquest). A good leadership approach is one of the important factors for a company to flourish. Diwu has been instrumental in the success of the company, as he is responsible for strategic planning and scientific projects. He is a curious scientist and an excellent serial entrepreneur. His academics have always revolved around chemistry, biology, and related research fields, thus, even after completing his Ph.D., he continued with the phototherapeutic mechanism of hypocretins research. He has rich industry experience in the biotech field and throughout his career, he has co-founded a few drug discovery and life science research tool companies. All these companies were later acquired by large companies except for AAT Bioquest.

Diwu has always followed his passions and advises young scientists to do the same. Further, he asserts, “If you are interested in what you do and passionate about your projects, you always feel energetic and actively pursue it with a great chance to succeed. No matter what results in you get, you always feel happy. If there is a better opportunity, do a good analysis before you make your final decision. There is nothing wrong with changing direction or making some adjustments as long as you are well prepared.”

Manage the Prospects and Challenges Wisely

AAT Bioquest has been committed to the preservation of the environment and thus believes in sustainability. It also holds an outstanding record for maintaining safe, environmentally sustainable operations. This is due to the company’s long-term stance on resource management as well as the investment in personal training. Diwu asserts, “We aim to make socially responsible decisions which will preserve and benefit our shared community for future generations.”

AAT Bioquest plans to work with the global partners and expand the distribution network. Besides, it will continue to invest in research and development that Diwu also anticipates R&D to be the driving force which will open new market and opportunities. By managing these opportunities wisely, AAT Bioquest aims to be the leader in the industry. Diwu adds, “I believe that, by leveraging our limited resources, AAT Bioquest can achieve this goal and make a long-term, sustained impact in the global scientific community.” However, currently, the focus of the team has shifted on tackling the COVID-19 crisis. The goal has always been to create tools that enable biological discoveries, and the team has been successful in creating some innovative products to overcome or at least decrease the impact of the pandemic.

Demonstrating the Value of Innovative Products

In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, millions have witnessed the detection test problems in real-time. Both these good tests and therapeutic solutions must come from and supported by life science research. In accordance with this, the biological detection is the core business of AAT Bioquest. The company is tackling the challenges put forth by the pandemic as opportunities to demonstrate the value of its innovative products. The highlight of the products is ROXtra fluorescence calibration standards and StrandBrite™ RNA quantification which has turned out to be vital tools for eliminating some bottleneck problems with some PCR-based COVID-19 tests.

AAT Bioquest has been globally renowned for the speed in innovations. This quality has benefited in the time of crisis. During the pandemic, the company has successfully launched its serial Covidyte™ new drug screening tools that are now used in several high throughput screening labs for searching new medications as a curative for COVID-19 patients.

Conversing the Pandemic Impact

Amid the pandemic it has been astounding to witness the efforts of biotech companies—regardless of all sizes, they have put aside their primary products and shifted to tackle the coronavirus covering all the different angles ranging from therapeutics and antivirals to new types of diagnostic kits. COVID-19 has been highlighting the importance of the biotechnology field to society. Working in biotech is more than just a job and in times like this, the responsibilities of the companies have only increased. As a response to the pandemic impact, Zhenjun Jack Diwu shared his and his teammates’ contribution, and how they are tackling the challenges,

How do you think the current pandemic situation is affecting the world and how is it influencing your industry?

The current pandemic has waked up and reminded us that life science research and pharmaceutical industry is a critical asset for any nations. All the governments would heavily invest in life science research for the next decades after the pandemic.

Is there any specific project or product you are working on to tackle the crucial time like this?

AAT Bioquest constantly introduces new products. We are going to introduce our multicolor cell analysis tools for the rapidly emerging spectral flow cytometry that provides a very powerful tool for analyzing people’s immunological responses. There is an urgent unmet need for fully analyzing people’s immunological responses to COVID-19 during and after the pandemic.

Are there any special steps you are ensuring for the welfare of your team?

During this pandemic, AAT Bioquest has tried its best to find the works that can be done at home and kept the vast majority of our employees fully paid while they stayed at home during the pandemic.

What are your strategies to overcome the challenges presented by the COVID-19 crisis?

Hundreds of millions of people have seen the COVID-19 test problems in real-time. Both the good tests and therapeutic solutions must come from and supported by life science research. Biological detection is the core business of AAT Bioquest. So, solving the test problems would provide an opportunity to demonstrate the value of our innovative products.