HPLC vs. UHPLC — Making the Right Choice for Your Lab

I’m often running into facility engineers, who are at the intersection of science and operations — helping researchers scale discoveries with the right infrastructure. One of the most common questions I hear when supporting biotech labs is: Should we invest in HPLC or UHPLC?

Here’s my quick take:

🔬 HPLC (High-Performance Liquid Chromatography)

• Reliable workhorse for standard separations

• Lower pressure requirements = longer column life

• Ideal for teams focused on robustness over speed

⚡ UHPLC (Ultra High-Performance LC)

• Faster, more sensitive, and sharper peaks

• Higher resolution = better for complex mixtures or critical separations

• Requires more precise systems and higher maintenance, but the data output is worth it for many applications

💡 If you’re working with high-throughput environments (think drug discovery or metabolomics), UHPLC is increasingly becoming the standard. But for routine QA/QC, HPLC still delivers.

Now, let’s talk brands — because not all systems are created equal:

🏆 Thermo Scientific – Powerful integration with mass specs, great for proteomics and metabolomics. Their Vanquish UHPLC systems are sleek, fast, and robust. The software (Chromeleon) is a big plus.

🏆 Waters – A classic. Their ACQUITY line set the UHPLC standard early on. Unmatched consistency, especially in regulated environments. Empower software is the industry staple.

🏆 ÄKTA (Cytiva) – Not exactly in the same chromatography family, but if you’re doing protein purification or biotech upstream work, it’s the gold standard. Great for prep-scale workflows before you even get to LC.

👉 My advice? Think long-term. Match your system to your throughput, sample complexity, and downstream integration needs. And when possible — demo everything. Nothing replaces hands-on time.

Facility engineering is more than keeping systems running — it’s about guiding smart investments that help science move faster.