August 25, 2026

Shimadzu is strengthening its position across chromatography, mass spectrometry, and laboratory automation through two strategic collaborations announced within less than a week. The company has recently expanded its cooperation with U.S.-based ePrep, a specialist in automated sample preparation, while also advancing its technology relationship with Newomics, a company focused on innovative ionization and microfluidic technologies for LC-MS.

Although the two collaborations target different stages of the analytical workflow, they share a common objective: improving laboratory automation, analytical sensitivity, reproducibility, and overall workflow efficiency.

From Sample Preparation to Mass Spectrometry

The collaboration with ePrep represents an important move upstream in the analytical workflow. Shimadzu Scientific Instruments has announced a strategic North American partnership with ePrep, combining Shimadzu's chromatography and mass spectrometry platforms with ePrep's automated sample-preparation technology.

Under the cooperation, Shimadzu Scientific Instruments will offer the ePrep ONE automated sample-preparation platform in North America. The system is designed to integrate multiple sample-preparation procedures, including extraction, filtration, dilution, and derivatization, into an automated workflow.

The initial focus includes environmental testing applications, particularly workflows involving semivolatile organic compounds. The partnership is also expected to support future applications in pharmaceutical analysis, food safety, chemical testing, and other analytical fields.

For laboratories, the significance goes beyond adding another piece of equipment. Manual sample preparation can be time-consuming and may introduce variability between operators. By automating repetitive procedures, laboratories can potentially improve consistency, increase throughput, and reduce the risk of human error.

Newomics Strengthens the LC-MS Front End

While ePrep focuses primarily on sample preparation, Newomics addresses another critical part of the analytical workflow: ionization and sample introduction into mass spectrometers.

Newomics develops technologies involving multi-nozzle emitters, microfluidic systems, and advanced electrospray ionization solutions for LC-MS applications. Its technologies are designed to improve ionization efficiency and support high-sensitivity measurements, particularly under microflow and nanoflow conditions.

The relationship between Newomics and Shimadzu is not entirely new. Newomics has previously developed ionization solutions compatible with Shimadzu mass spectrometers, including its DuoESI platform. The technology incorporates multi-nozzle emitters and microfluidic components designed to improve ionization performance.

Such technologies are particularly relevant to modern biological and pharmaceutical research, where researchers increasingly require higher sensitivity while working with extremely small sample quantities.

Applications may include proteomics, metabolomics, biopharmaceutical characterization, peptide analysis, and other advanced LC-MS workflows.

Why These Partnerships Matter

The two collaborations highlight an important transformation taking place across the analytical-instrument industry.

For many years, competition among instrument manufacturers was primarily based on individual specifications. Chromatography companies competed on separation efficiency, pressure capability, and detector performance, while mass spectrometry manufacturers emphasized sensitivity, resolution, dynamic range, and scanning speed.

Today, however, laboratories are increasingly evaluating complete workflows rather than individual instruments.

A modern LC-MS experiment may involve sample collection, extraction, filtration, dilution, derivatization, chromatographic separation, ionization, mass detection, data processing, and reporting. A weakness at any stage can compromise the final result.

The ePrep partnership addresses the front end of the workflow, helping automate sample preparation before injection. Newomics technology focuses on the mass-spectrometry interface, aiming to improve ionization efficiency and sensitivity.

Together, these developments demonstrate how Shimadzu is extending its capabilities beyond the traditional instrument itself.

The Growing Importance of Laboratory Automation

Automation is becoming increasingly important as laboratories face growing sample volumes and greater requirements for data reproducibility.

In pharmaceutical development, environmental testing, food safety, and clinical research, laboratories may need to process hundreds or thousands of samples. Manual preparation can create bottlenecks and increase operator workload.

Automated sample preparation can standardize repetitive procedures and allow analysts to spend more time on method development, data interpretation, and quality control.

At the same time, advanced ionization technologies can help laboratories obtain stronger analytical signals from limited sample quantities. This is especially valuable in proteomics and other applications where sample availability can be extremely limited.

A Shift Toward Integrated Analytical Ecosystems

Shimadzu's recent moves reflect a broader industry trend toward integrated analytical ecosystems.

Major analytical-instrument manufacturers are increasingly combining hardware, software, automation, consumables, sample preparation, and third-party technologies. The goal is no longer simply to sell a chromatograph or mass spectrometer, but to provide a complete analytical solution.

This approach can also benefit laboratories by simplifying workflow integration. Instead of independently configuring every stage of an analytical process, laboratories can adopt solutions that have already been designed and tested for compatibility.

For Shimadzu, partnerships with specialized technology companies such as ePrep and Newomics provide an opportunity to expand its ecosystem while leveraging technologies developed by companies with highly focused expertise.

Implications for Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry

The latest developments could accelerate several important trends in analytical science.

First, automated sample preparation is likely to become increasingly common in high-throughput laboratories.

Second, microflow and nanoflow LC-MS technologies may continue to gain attention as researchers seek higher sensitivity with smaller sample volumes.

Third, workflow integration is becoming an increasingly important competitive factor. Laboratories are looking for systems that can connect sample preparation, chromatography, mass spectrometry, automation, and data analysis with minimal manual intervention.

Finally, partnerships between large instrument manufacturers and specialized technology companies may become a more important mechanism for innovation.

Looking Ahead

Shimadzu's collaborations with ePrep and Newomics demonstrate a clear focus on connecting different stages of the analytical workflow. From automated sample preparation to chromatographic separation and advanced mass spectrometric ionization, the company is expanding its technology ecosystem around the laboratory's complete analytical process.

For customers, these partnerships could provide greater flexibility and access to new analytical technologies. For Shimadzu, they represent an opportunity to strengthen its chromatography and mass spectrometry businesses while responding to the industry's shift toward automation, higher sensitivity, and integrated workflows.

The next stage of analytical-instrument competition may therefore be defined not simply by which manufacturer produces the most powerful individual instrument, but by which company can deliver the most efficient and reliable end-to-end analytical workflow.

Shimadzu's rapid moves involving ePrep and Newomics suggest that the company is positioning itself for exactly that competition.