The 74th annual American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) conference, held in San Diego, California, brought together the global scientific community to explore the latest advances in instrumentation, software, and front-end separations. This year’s standout innovations spanned proteomics, biopharma development, small molecule analysis, lipidomics, and environmental testing.
A clear shift emerged across the exhibition floor. While raw hardware specifications remain vital, the industry is heavily prioritizing data interpretation, resource efficiency, and workflow integration. From compact benchtop instruments to sophisticated software ecosystems powered by artificial intelligence (AI), vendors focused on helping laboratories transform complex biological samples into decision-ready insights. In this initial roundup, we spotlight the major announcements redefining analytical workflows.
Waters Corporation: Redefining Spatial and Structural Resolution
Waters Corporation introduced major hardware expansions targeting spatial, structural, and high-throughput multiomics.
The company launched the Waters Cyclic IMS P20 Mass Spectrometer, a high-resolution platform that combines multipass Cyclic Ion Mobility Spectrometry (IMS) with a 10-fold increase in MS/MS sensitivity and an upper mass range exceeding 100 kDa, enabling full-spectrum MALDI and DESI imaging on a single system.
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"The increase in sensitivity delivered by the new functionality is truly remarkable. It stands to significantly accelerate our analyses, potentially by an order of magnitude, and enables us to probe critical low-abundance species in far greater detail. These rare molecular populations are essential for delineating the mechanisms that drive human disease," observes Kostas Thalassinos, Ph.D., Professor of Mass Spectrometry and Academic Lead at the Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology, University College London.
For benchtop workflows, the new Xevo MRT P10 Mass Spectrometer delivers up to 20x higher MS/MS sensitivity and twice the acquisition speed of its predecessor. Paired with the DESI XS source, the platform enables rapid spatial analysis down to the cellular level at up to 200 Hz.
"We leverage the exceptional MS/MS sensitivity and fast acquisition rates of the Xevo MRT P10 MS for multiomics research. Its excellent resolution enables us to separate signals of similar mass at very high acquisition speeds, delivering deep, high-quality coverage while maintaining sub-ppm mass accuracy," shares Corey Broeckling, Ph.D., Director of the Bioanalysis and Omics Center at Colorado State University.
Thermo Fisher Scientific: Scaling High-Resolution Access and AI
Thermo Fisher Scientific expanded its suite of Orbitrap mass spectrometry platforms, AI-enabled software, and integrated front-end workflows to bring high-resolution analysis to more scientific decision points.
For complex biological research, the company introduced the Orbitrap Tribrid Apex Mass Spectrometer. This platform integrates three mass analyzers, a new infrared laser option for alternative fragmentation, and Direct Mass Technology Mode to deliver fivefold greater sensitivity and up to 100% sequence coverage in a single experiment.
"The Orbitrap Tribrid Apex mass spectrometer is the best proteoform sequencer I've seen in my 25 years of translational research. It opens an exciting frontier for obtaining deep sequence coverage of proteoforms with unparalleled sensitivity, and these capabilities will enable us to understand complex diseases like never before," notes Neil Kelleher, Ph.D., Director of the Proteomics Center of Excellence at Northwestern University.
For biopharmaceutical development pipelines, the company unveiled the Orbitrap Excedion Mass Spectrometer, which features an enhanced dynamic range (eDR) that detects three to five times more compounds in complex samples, supporting regulatory-ready decision-making.
To complement these hardware platforms, Thermo Fisher highlighted complementary front-end innovations, such as the Vanquish Amplify UHPLC Systems, alongside recent software acquisitions MSAID and Proteinaceous. These additions integrate machine learning and top-down native mass spectrometry bioinformatics directly into the data workflow.
SCIEX: Compact Architecture and Platform-Wide Connected Software
SCIEX focused on real-world throughput and laboratory resource efficiency with the launch of the novus V55 system. This next-generation triple quadrupole mass spectrometer features a 35% smaller footprint and achieves a 40% reduction in both energy consumption and laboratory cooling requirements compared to the SCIEX 5500+ system. For high-pressure laboratories, its aeMRM (accelerated MRM) capability acquires up to 1,000 MRMs per second to maximize sample throughput.
SCIEX launched the system alongside the new SCIEX OS 5.0 software, which introduces natural language processing to the mass spectrometry laboratory. The software features an AI-enabled helpme function to answer feature questions using a natural language interface, alongside an AI-enabled Calculated Columns tool for custom calculations.
SCIEX also advanced its accurate mass ZenoTOF line, introducing ZT Scan DIA 3.0 to balance selectivity, sensitivity, and throughput based on the requirements of the experiment. The company expanded front-end compatibility with Echo MS+ system integrations and established key software collaborations with PEAKS, MS-Dial, and mzmine to streamline data processing.
Biognosys Group: Bridging Discovery and Quantitative Validation
The Biognosys Group (comprising Biognosys, biocrates, and PreOmics) introduced major software and workflow updates designed to expand scalable, high-quality molecular profiling across proteomics and metabolomics.
The group launched Spectronaut 21 (DIA) and SpectroMine 6 (DDA) software, leveraging advanced directDIA to process data up to 15% faster, alongside next-generation AI-driven PTM prediction to enhance identification rates.
"Spectronaut is our preferred DIA analysis software due to its high performance and user-friendly interface, which makes analyzing our complex and multiplex DIA datasets both easy and reliable," highlights Yansheng Liu, PhD, Associate Professor at Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology.
On the sample preparation front, the new iST-S workflow enables high-throughput, reproducible deep proteomics from ultra-low sample inputs down to 0.5 micrograms. For clinical blood-based studies, the optimized P2 single-particle enrichment workflow expands deep proteome coverage to serum and alternative plasma matrices, achieving up to a 4-fold increase in protein group identifications compared to neat measurements.
"At the Helsinki Proteomics Center, we have benchmarked all major plasma depletion/enrichment strategies on the market. When depth matters, P2-iST consistently comes out on top. For us it has been a game changer — it puts robust, deep plasma proteomics into the hands of any lab without expensive proprietary hardware. The reproducibility and depth with P2-iST makes it ideal for medium-scale clinical and translational plasma studies," explains Markku Varjosalo, PhD, Program Director and Scientific Director of the Helsinki Proteomics Center.
Additionally, a new hybrid metabolomics workflow on the timsMetabo platform, developed in partnership with biocrates, unifies quantitative targeted metabolomics with untargeted discovery in a single, integrated PASEF experiment, eliminating doubled sample consumption and instrumentation running times.
MOBILion Systems: Driving Portfolio-Wide SLIM Separations
MOBILion Systems showcased its proprietary SLIM (Structures for Lossless Ion Manipulation) high-resolution ion mobility technology as a vendor-agnostic platform architecture. Rather than targeting a single analytical niche, SLIM integrates upstream of nominal mass, QTOF, and proteomics platforms to clean ion streams, eliminate chemical interferences, and boost sensitivity across all detector classes.
This platform strategy focuses on three high-value options: a proteomics-optimized configuration using Parallel Accumulation with Mobility Aligned Fragmentation (PAMAF) for deeper peptide coverage, a QTOF integration to streamline non-proteomics pipelines, and a new triple quadrupole mode termed Parallel Accumulation Mobility Aligned Targeting (PAMAT) designed to deliver robust quantitative precision.
"MOBILion’s mission has always been to reveal what conventional LCMS workflows leave unseen," explains Melissa Sherman, Ph.D., Founder and CEO of MOBILion Systems. "As legacy architectures approach practical performance limits, SLIM offers a route to redefine an entire mass spectrometry portfolio from low to high resolution systems, rather than a single workflow or product line."
Phenomenex: Elevating LC Column Durability on the Front End
Phenomenex expanded its hardware portfolio with the launch of the Endrix Long Life LC column, a liquid chromatography solution engineered for extended column lifetime and consistent performance. The design protects against common mechanisms of column failure, including peak distortion, pressure rise from build-up, and performance drift to ensure method reliability in demanding analytical workflows.
"Scientists are under constant pressure to deliver high-quality data while managing increasing sample complexity and tighter timelines. Endrix Long Life LC was developed to address these challenges directly by delivering exceptional durability and reliable performance over extended use," points out Eric Lavold, Vice President for Product Management and Strategy at Phenomenex.
Looking Ahead from ASMS 2026
As the conference progresses, the intersection of mass spectrometry, automated computational tools, and front-end separation innovation remains clear.
From the continued expansion of integrated cloud environments and machine learning-driven analytics to robust next-generation LC systems, the industry is aligning around a shared goal: accelerating the path from complex biology to actionable, reproducible insights.
This article is based on press releases and materials distributed at ASMS 2026.
