It’s always a pleasure to reconnect with the mass spectrometry community at the annual American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) conference, and 2025’s meeting in Baltimore last month, proved once again why this event remains such a key date in the calendar for the industry.
Against a backdrop of political noise and uncertain travel dynamics, there was some initial concern about attendance; however more than 6,000 attendees (similar numbers to 2023) and nearly 200 exhibitors came together to showcase, discuss, and debate the future of mass spec and its transformative potential across widespread applications.
Now in its 73rd year, ASMS 2025 offered a compelling snapshot of a sector actively pushing the boundaries of what is thought possible. If last year in Anaheim felt purposeful, this year felt strategic, collaborative, focused, and future-facing.
Here's what stood out for us:
1. Proteomics goes deeper, faster, sharper
Proteomics continued to dominate discussions, with next-gen platforms aiming to interrogate functional proteoforms at scale and speed. Vendors doubled down on innovations that boost depth without compromising throughput.
Bruker’s timsOmni platform introduced powerful capabilities for proteoform sequencing and post-translational modification (PTM) localisation, moving functional proteomics into new territory. The timsUltra AIP system also turned heads with its new Athena Ion Processor (AIP) delivering up to 35% more peptide and 20% more protein identifications, a major boost for high-sensitivity proteomics.
Thermo Fisher’s Orbitrap Astral Zoom and Orbitrap Excedion Pro offer heightened resolution and sensitivity for protein-level studies, crucial for clinical biomarker discovery and personalised medicine workflows.
SCIEX's ZenoTOF 8600, tailored for high-resolution proteomics, metabolomics and genomics applications, reinforced the cross-omics utility that’s becoming table stakes in MS innovation.
MOBILion Systems presented plans for its next-generation proteomics platform, BILLIE, and the novel mode of operation it is founded on, Parallel Mobility Aligned Fragmentation (PAMAF), which enables increased speed, sensitivity and selectivity for liquid chromatography (LC) high resolution MS (HRMS)-based proteomics.
2. From hardware to insight, the age of smarter MS
AI/ML, once hypothetical buzzwords, are now an integral component of instrument control and data workflows. With vast volumes of complex data now becoming the norm, attention is turning to how we can manage, interpret and translate that data into actionable outcomes. The press spoke about the “post-data” era, where software and AI take centre stage.
3. Sustainability with substance
Sustainability was once again a major theme. The market demands compact, energy-efficient systems that deliver big results with a small footprint, backed by commercial support and considered licensing.
Waters launched the Xevo TQ Absolute XR, cutting power and gas use by up to 50%, an important step toward greener high-throughput pharma quantification and environmental monitoring workflows.
Agilent’s new InfinityLab Pro iQ Series also presented the balance between performance, intelligence and sustainability, reinforcing the industry's shift toward smarter instrumentation.
4. Omics integration to break down silos
A notable shift this year was the emphasis on real-world omics convergence, MS aligning more tightly with biomedical and translational research. From single-cell workflows to lipidomics, environmental exposomics to immunopeptidomics, it’s clear that MS is stepping beyond the lab bench and into applied systems biology.
This was especially evident in sessions on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) by Bruker Applied MS, Sciex and Agilent, where MS is proving essential for compliance with the EPA’s updated drinking water standards, and in workshops focused on cell and gene therapy, where precision and speed are non-negotiables.
In metabolomics, Bruker’s new timsMetabo™ system brought fresh momentum to small molecule workflows. Its Mobility Range Enhancement (MoRE) technology and 4D LC-TIMS MS/MS capability offer breakthrough sensitivity, annotation confidence, and separation power, particularly for isomer resolution and collision cross section (CCS)-based quantification at scale. It also supports regulatory compliance and proactive environmental monitoring, and will find future application in toxicology and forensic science.
5. Compact yet capable
The rise of benchtop and field-deployable MS continues. Bruker, Waters and Agilent all emphasized smaller systems with big data potential, meeting demand from industrial, environmental and clinical labs for mobility, robustness and ease of use.
Whether it's enabling real-time food safety checks, accelerating forensic investigations, or making high-performance MS more accessible in emerging markets, these systems are expanding the reach of mass spectrometry in meaningful ways.
6. It’s not just the instrument
Thermo Fisher sent a dedicated CAPEX support team to help users find funding solutions. This is the tip of the iceberg, where procurement and ease of use, space, capacity, resource are all becoming as important as what is “in the box”.
Final thoughts
Attending ASMS in person again this year to support our clients and see first-hand the cutting-edge breakthroughs in MS was a privilege. While the event was marked by many announcements and innovations, it also reminded us that even with the most robust planning, not everything will go as expected. For instance, Shimadzu’s planned press conference was unexpectedly cancelled at short notice, underscoring how the fast-moving nature of the industry and unforeseen circumstances can impact even the major players.
We’re already looking forward to next year’s event, and to helping our clients manage a successful show as well as amplify their stories. If you’d like support in managing your event strategy and communications at ASMS – and other industry tradeshows and conferences, our team is ready to support you. Get in touch to explore how we can bring your innovations to the audiences that matter.
