# MZ Biolabs

**Status (2026-04):** Active
**Location:** 2102 N Country Club Rd, Suite C, Tucson, AZ 85716, USA
**Founded:** **2019** (per Crunchbase / search snippet — not directly confirmed on the live About page).
**Principals (per `mzbiolabs.com/mzbiolabs/about-us/`, fetched 2026-04-23 — note the `/about` URL 404s; the canonical About page is `/mzbiolabs/about-us/`):**
- **Ken Pendarvis** — Founder / Owner / Analytical Chemist. Chemical engineer, analytical chemistry / proteomics / instrument-repair background. **C2** (self-disclosed on the live About page; cross-confirmed on Crunchbase).
- **Nina Ossanna** — co-founder per Crunchbase / search snippets only; **not confirmed on the live About page**. Background: prior US Patent Examiner; director of tech transfer at Johns Hopkins Medical School and University of Arizona — unusually senior credentialing for a small contract lab. **C3.**
- **Jaishree Mali, PhD** — Analytical Chemist. Pharmaceutical Chemistry, LC-MS/MS expertise.
- **Jamie Young** — Microbiologist (B.S. Microbiology + M.P.H. One Health, U. Arizona).
- **Armida Valencia** — Facility Manager.

DEA registrant number **RP0584676** disclosed in site footer.
**URL:** https://mzbiolabs.com/
**Specialisation:** Research-grade LC-MS / QTOF; targeted metabolomics, proteomics, custom method development; COA work for contract clients (notably Finnrick partner for peptide orthogonal confirmation).

Of Finnrick's seven named partner labs, MZ Biolabs is the only one that publicly lists specific instrument makes and models at the brand level. That disclosure lives at `https://mzbiolabs.com/mzbiolabs/our-techniques/`, not the home page — this is a frequent attribution error (see critique M12). By test volume for Finnrick, MZ Biolabs is mid-tier (178 / 6,813 as of 2026-04-22), but methodologically it is the lab Finnrick leans on for the high-resolution orthogonal-ID work that a UV-only peptide lab cannot produce.

## Instruments (with citations)

| Model | Type | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Waters Acquity UPLC** (multiple units) | Front-end LC | Used for peptide / small-molecule purity and identity; paired with the Bruker QTOFs via ESI | https://mzbiolabs.com/mzbiolabs/our-techniques/ |
| **Bruker Compact QTOF × 3** | High-resolution accurate-mass MS | Stated resolution 20,000; "medium to high resolution" per site | same |
| **Thermo Scientific LTQ Velos Pro** | Linear ion trap MS | "Highly sensitive analyte detection in complex matrices"; pairs with nanoAcquity | same |
| **Waters nanoAcquity** | Nanoflow HPLC | 100 nL – 5 µL/min flow; stated 5 pg/mL sensitivity; GLP-operated | same |
| HPLC columns | Stationary phase chemistries | C8, C18, HILIC, Amide | same |
| Ionization | ESI (inferred from Waters Acquity + Bruker QTOF pairing); APCI not directly confirmed on the current site | — | Inferred from instrument-class (round-2 clarification: earlier draft cited the home page as source for "ESI and APCI"; neither ion source is explicitly named by brand on mzbiolabs.com as of 2026-04-23, though ESI is the standard pairing for Waters Acquity + Bruker Compact QTOF) |

## Assays offered

- Peptide identity + purity (UPLC-UV + QTOF MS confirmation)
- Targeted metabolomics
- Proteomics (fit to the nanoAcquity + LTQ Velos Pro rig)
- Custom method development
- Certificate of Analysis (COA) testing
- Partner research projects
- Disease-signature studies

Retail consumer intake is not advertised. Sample submissions reach MZ Biolabs either through Finnrick's pipeline or via direct commercial contract.

## Pricing

| Assay | Price | Turnaround | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retail consumer | — | — | **Not published.** Engagements are quote-based for contract clients. |
| Via Finnrick pipeline | User-facing cost is Finnrick's free tier or paid add-on | ~1–3 weeks | C3 — Finnrick does not break out per-partner cost to the user |

## Submission workflow

1. Commercial clients: contact through the site's Contact page; quote-based engagement.
2. Finnrick-routed samples: submitted to Finnrick, Finnrick directs portion to MZ Biolabs for orthogonal confirmation.
3. Direct individual consumer intake is not advertised on the site.

## Sample requirements

- Lyophilized peptide: standard vial
- Small molecules / metabolomics: matrix-dependent; method-of-analysis defined per contract
- Form factors accepted: aqueous / lyophilized peptide, small molecule in compatible solvent
- Anonymity: NOT a feature — this is a contract research lab, identity required for contract

## Publication practice

- **Peer-reviewed publications:** MZ Biolabs does not list a publications page on the live site as of 2026-04-23. No founder/principal name is exposed on the site either, which complicates a Google Scholar lookup.
- **COAs:** issued per client; not publicly aggregated by MZ Biolabs (aggregation lives on Finnrick's side, which links out to the MZ-signed PDF per-result).

## Reputation notes (public statements only — no speculation)

- In the Finnrick partner ecosystem, MZ Biolabs is the "heavy MS" shop — the lab Finnrick uses when DAD or UV purity is ambiguous and high-resolution orthogonal identity is needed.
- No publicly known controversies or corrections are circulating in community-review writeups as of 2026-04-22.
- The site's transparency gap (no principals, no publications, no addressed research projects) is atypical for a research-grade LC-MS shop but consistent with small contract-research labs that prefer to stay low-profile.

## Structured claims

**Claim:** MZ Biolabs operates three Bruker Compact QTOF mass spectrometers with 20,000 stated resolution.
**Confidence:** C1
**Source:** https://mzbiolabs.com/mzbiolabs/our-techniques/
**Date checked:** 2026-04-23
**Notes:** This is the definitive source for the instrument inventory — the home page only lists instrument classes. Do not cite the home page for brand-level detail (critique M12).

**Claim:** MZ Biolabs operates a Thermo LTQ Velos Pro linear ion trap paired with a Waters nanoAcquity HPLC (100 nL – 5 µL/min; 5 pg/mL sensitivity; GLP-operated).
**Confidence:** C1
**Source:** https://mzbiolabs.com/mzbiolabs/our-techniques/
**Date checked:** 2026-04-23

**Claim:** MZ Biolabs uses C8, C18, HILIC, and Amide column phases.
**Confidence:** C1
**Source:** https://mzbiolabs.com/mzbiolabs/our-techniques/
**Date checked:** 2026-04-23

**Claim:** MZ Biolabs is DEA registered (RP0584676).
**Confidence:** C2
**Source:** https://mzbiolabs.com/ (footer / compliance disclosure on the site)
**Date checked:** 2026-04-22 per research/_sources

**Claim:** MZ Biolabs has contributed 178 of Finnrick's 6,813 tests as of 2026-04-22.
**Confidence:** C1
**Source:** https://www.finnrick.com/labs
**Date checked:** 2026-04-22

## Unknowns (C5)

- Year founded — Crunchbase says 2019; not directly confirmed on the live About page.
- Nina Ossanna's role status — co-founder per Crunchbase / search snippets but not confirmed on the live About page (C3, not C5; flagged for re-verification).
- Scientific publication record under the principals' names beyond the credentials disclosed.
- Retail pricing for direct consumer engagements (not published).
- Whether ISO 17025 is held (not mentioned in reviewed pages; the site uses "GLP-operated" language for the nanoAcquity rig but does not claim ISO 17025).

## Sources

- https://mzbiolabs.com/ (2026-04-23)
- https://mzbiolabs.com/mzbiolabs/our-techniques/ (2026-04-23)
- https://www.finnrick.com/labs (2026-04-22)
- `research/01-existing-services/partner-labs.md`