High-throughput automated patch clamp with giga-seal quality - up to 20,000 data points per day for large-scale ion channel screening.
SyncroPatch 384: High-Throughput Patch Clamp
The SyncroPatch 384 (Nanion Technologies) is the highest-throughput automated patch clamp platform available, enabling 384 parallel recordings with genuine giga-seal quality. Unlike lower-throughput systems, it delivers up to 20,000 high-quality data points per day without sacrificing electrophysiological fidelity - making it the gold-standard instrument for primary compound library screening against ion channel targets.
At ChanPharm, the SyncroPatch 384 forms the front end of our tiered screening pipeline. It is used for initial hit identification from large compound collections, early safety liability assessment, and rapid concentration-response profiling at scale. Its integrated Biomek i5 liquid handling robot and on-deck compound preparation eliminate manual pipetting steps, enabling fully unattended overnight screening runs.
Key Features
Technical Capabilities
384 parallel recordings - full 384-well mode for large library screening, or 32-well mode for assay development and smaller campaigns
Up to 20,000 data points per day - highest throughput automated patch clamp available, with giga-seal success rates up to 95%
Voltage- and current-clamp as standard - both recording modes available without hardware changes, including action potential recordings
Temperature control - heating and cooling for thermosensitive channels and physiologically relevant assay conditions
Unlimited compound application - waste removal between additions allows cumulative concentration-response experiments within the same chip run
NPC-384 chip format - chips with single- or multi-hole configurations and variable resistance options for diverse cell types
Applications at ChanPharm
The SyncroPatch 384 is the workhorse of ChanPharm's high-throughput screening operation. Its combination of scale, data quality, and automation makes it the right tool for:
Primary compound library screening: Rapid identification of active hits from large collections - hundreds to thousands of compounds tested per day in single-concentration or multi-concentration formats against any recombinant ion channel target.
Early concentration-response profiling: Efficient IC50 determination across large compound sets during the hit-to-lead phase, enabling rapid ranking and triage before committing to lower-throughput mechanistic studies.
hERG and cardiac safety panels: High-throughput hERG screening in compliance with ICH S7B guidelines. Multi-channel cardiac safety panels (hERG, NaV1.5, CaV1.2) run in parallel to flag cardiovascular liabilities early in the drug discovery cascade.
Selectivity profiling at scale: Counter-screening compound series against panels of ion channel subtypes simultaneously, providing selectivity data on dozens of compounds in a single day's run.
Assay development & validation: The 32-well mode enables rapid optimization of cell preparation, chip resistance, and voltage protocol parameters before scaling to full 384-well throughput.
Throughput & Workflow
ChanPharm's Tiered Screening Pipeline
SyncroPatch 384 - primary screening; up to 20,000 data points/day; hit identification and early safety flags
Patchliner - secondary screening; mechanistic studies and state-dependent protocols; up to 48 unattended recordings per session
Manual Patch Clamp - gold-standard deep characterization; complex protocols in native tissue and iPSC-derived sensory neurons
Hits confirmed on the SyncroPatch 384 are routinely advanced to Patchliner-based mechanistic studies and, where required, to final characterization by manual patch clamp in native cell models. This tiered approach ensures that compound resources are focused efficiently at each stage, with full electrophysiological data quality maintained throughout the pipeline.