Do you want to know more about who we are and how it all started?

Join us on a walk down memory lane, as we dive into the story behind Evosep.

While we may only be seven years old as a company, the story of the people behind Evosep goes way back. Our founder, Ole Vorm, started working with protein mass spectrometry back in 1989 and founded his first company in 1997. However, he is not the only one at Evosep with a long history within the nanoLC and proteomics community.

Most of our employees have been involved in the field for many years as well, working together with Ole Vorm in different companies long before Evosep saw the light of day. Here, we’ll go through our journey and look at the companies and milestones that led to the birth of Evosep. We’ll also share a bit about the mission of Evosep as well as our methods and newest technology platform.

The journey towards Evosep

Protana
Ole Vorm founded his first company Protana in 1997 with the mission to provide the scientific community with a range of “world’s first” proteomics solutions for pharmaceutical and biotechnological research. These solutions included (to mention a few) the first commercial nano-electrospray sources and emitters, as well as the first 2D-gel spot-picking robot.

MDS Proteomics 

A new chapter began in 2000 when MDS Proteomics acquired Protana. The mission of MDS Proteomics was to make protein-based biomarker discovery the leading factor for discovering new drugs, and we became a key part of the world’s largest proteome analysis platform company with 4 global locations, 300 employees, 60 mass spectrometers and a 600 CPU-cluster for database searches.

Proxeon

In 2002, a new proteomics adventure emerged, as Proxeon was born out of a management buyout from MDS Proteomics. The overall vision behind Proxeon was to create a new generation of powerful easy-to-use proteomics tools by providing high performance and innovative solutions for medical, pharmaceutical and biotech research. This resulted in the development of a split free nanoLC, which was a rather radical idea at the time. The EASY-nLC™ was different and novel by being a single and fully integrated unit controlled by a touchscreen interface and being preconfigured and optimized for proteomics.

Thermo Scientific™

The EASY-nLC proved quite successful and Proxeon was acquired by Thermo Scientific in 2010. This enabled us to continue building on our products, and we introduced a pressure boost to 1000 bar and saw great uptake in EASY-nLC product line. We also invented and designed the Thermo Scientific EASY-Spray ion source with integrated column/emitters as a simple and easy solution for connecting the separation frontend with the mass spectrometer.

Bruker Daltonics

Our journey took a new turn in 2014, when Bruker offered us the opportunity to design a modernized, split free nanoLC. With more than 10 years of nano-HPLC experience, we designed the Bruker Daltonics nanoElute that launched in 2017.

Evosep
During 20 years in the proteomics industry, we have worked with many skilled people and gained valuable experience. This enabled Ole Vorm and team to found Evosep in 2016 and launch the Evosep One to the market at HUPO in Dublin just one and a half years after Evosep was born. Our mission at Evosep is to improve quality of life and patient care by radically innovating how protein based clinical diagnostics are performed. In order to do so, we engage in collaborations with world-leading scientists about developing new technologies and solutions to make sample separation 10 times faster and 100 times more robust than today’s alternatives.

Read more about the Evosep One here.

Making proteomics and single-cell proteomics easy and routine

Six standard methods
At the launch in 2017, we introduced five standard methods spanning different analysis times that made it possible to analyze 30-300 samples per day. The five standard methods enable the Evosep One to cover a range of use cases from comprehensive proteome analysis with fractionation strategies to ultra high-throughput single-shot analysis. In 2023, we launched our fastest method with a throughput of 500 samples per day.

Read more about our standard methods here. 

It’s all in the tip
We can’t mention our methods without also mentioning the Evotip, as the Evotip itself is a very significant contributor to why proteomics and single-cell proteomics has become so easy and routine. The Evotip lets you load a very small amount of sample on the tip that, once immobilized, is extremely stable and stays right where it is. This lets you store the protein complement from a single cell on the tip, until you elute into the instrument.

Read more about the Evotip here.

EVOSEP+
At ASMS 2020 Reboot we introduced EVOSEP+, which is the method universe for non-standard or non-proteomics applications that extend the potential of the Evosep One platform for clinical research. The first method is the Extended Method which makes it possible to do around 15 samples per day. It’s the ideal choice when maximum proteome coverage in a single experiment is needed, especially when the amount of starting material is limited. EVOSEP+ methods do not usually require any hardware changes to the Evosep One.

Whisper
The newest addition to the EVOSEP+ universe is Whisper. Whisper Flow Technology is a general platform that encompasses many different elements that in combination is extremely well suited for true nano-flow applications, down to 100, 50 and even 25 nl/min. Whisper gradients are formed under high flow, low-pressure conditions and only uses a single pump to move the pre-formed gradient through the column, thereby optimizing sensitivity and solving many of the problems that have burdened nanoflow LC in the past by its very design. Whisper methods uses narrow bore columns and emitters but do not require any hardware changes to the Evosep One.

Read more about EVOSEP+ and Whisper here.

At Evosep we are all proud of the launch of truly low-flow nano methods. Ole Vorm says:

“I think personally I’m probably more proud than any because I’ve actually lived through this phase in the 1990’s and 2000’s where we all strived to make nanoflow routine and we just didn’t succeed. Now finally we get to this point when it becomes a completely robust analysis that everybody can do on a day-to-day basis. It’s just wonderful.”

Thank you for joining us on this walk down memory lane! Hopefully our story has given you some insights on the background of our company and who we are. We are excited to see what the future brings, and we look forward to the next chapter in the story of Evosep.

Watch the video and get a deeper insight into our methods as Ole Vorm talks about the essense of Evosep.

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