Partec equipment

About Partec

Partec is a German manufacturer of flow cytometry and cell analysis instruments, founded in Münster in 1967 by Professor Dr. Wolfgang Göhde, who built the first fluorescence-based flow cytometer. The company is headquartered in Görlitz, Germany. Since September 2013 it has operated as Sysmex Partec GmbH following its acquisition by Sysmex Corporation. Its primary categories are flow cytometers, cell counters and analysers, fluorescence microscopes, gel electrophoresis systems, and reagents and consumables. The best-known product lines are the CyFlow flow cytometers, the CyScope fluorescence microscopes, the CyFox gel electrophoresis systems, and the PAS Particle Analysing System. Flow cytometry measures the physical and fluorescent properties of individual cells as they pass single-file through a laser, and it underpins immunophenotyping, cell cycle analysis, and CD4 counting in molecular diagnostics. Partec's CyFlow instruments are also used in cell culture monitoring and ploidy analysis in plant genomics, where counting and sizing large cell populations quickly matters more than any single marker.

Partec product lines

The CyFlow range is the core of the catalogue. It splits into several formats built for different settings: the Cube 6 and Cube 8 are compact benchtop analysers, the ML and SL systems handle multi-parameter work with additional detectors, the space model targets higher-throughput runs, and the miniPOC is a portable unit designed for point-of-care use in resource-limited settings. These systems do the work of immunophenotyping and rare-event detection, and the portable format extended flow cytometry into field-based CD4 monitoring where a full laboratory analyser is impractical.

The CyScope line covers fluorescence microscopes, which do imaging for histology and microbiology, including malaria and tuberculosis diagnosis from stained samples. The CyFox systems handle gel electrophoresis, the separation of nucleic acids and proteins by size that sits at the base of molecular biology and genomics workflows. The PAS Particle Analysing System and the CyLab platform round out the range, extending particle sizing and counting into formulation and sample preparation tasks.

Across these lines the common thread is single-cell and single-particle measurement, which is why the equipment appears in proteomics, cell imaging, and microbiology laboratories rather than in one narrow application. A lab sourcing used Partec instruments is usually consolidating several of these stages under one maker.

Partec on Questpair

The Questpair catalogue lists 61 Partec items from 10 verified suppliers and distributors across 7 countries. Of those listings, 98 percent are used. Prices range from EUR 159 to EUR 60.868, and the average sits at EUR 7.852. The low end covers consumables and accessories, while complete CyFlow analysers and CyScope microscopes occupy the upper part of that range.

Because the catalogue is predominantly second-hand, condition varies between listings and is worth confirming per unit. Warranty is often possible and is arranged in consultation for the specific listing rather than set centrally. Parts for Partec instruments can be sourced via Questpair, and a buyer who needs manuals or documentation can contact Questpair directly, where specialists respond within the hour. Comparing offers across the listed suppliers is the clearest way to judge a used instrument, since price and condition are the two variables that move most between individual CyFlow and CyScope units.

Questpair review of Partec

Our take based on listings data and supplier feedback

Partec occupies an unusual position among cell analysis manufacturers because the company does not follow the field, it starts it. The 1967 instrument built by Wolfgang Göhde in Münster was the first fluorescence-based flow cytometer, and the CyFlow range descends from that work rather than from a later entry into an established market. For a buyer evaluating used flow cytometers, that lineage matters less as a selling point than as a signal of design intent: these are instruments built by a house that has done nothing else for decades.

The catalogue on Questpair reflects a second-hand market rather than a new one. Of the Partec listings, 98 percent are used. Prices run from EUR 159 to EUR 60.868, with the average sitting at EUR 7.852. That spread is wide because the listings mix small accessories and consumables at the low end with complete benchtop flow cytometers at the top, and the condition breakdown means a buyer should expect to assess each unit individually rather than rely on a standard configuration. Warranty on a used instrument is arranged in consultation for the specific listing, so the condition of an individual CyFlow Cube or CyScope is worth confirming before purchase.

The third point a buyer weighs is breadth. Partec does not make a single flagship instrument; the range covers flow cytometry, fluorescence microscopy, and gel electrophoresis, and that matters for a lab trying to consolidate cell-analysis work. The CyFlow line itself splits into several formats, from the Cube 6 and Cube 8 benchtop analysers to the ML and SL systems and the miniPOC, a portable unit designed for point-of-care and field settings. The CyScope fluorescence microscopes and the CyFox electrophoresis systems extend the same cell-biology focus into sample imaging and nucleic acid separation. For a researcher sourcing used equipment, this means one supplier search can surface instruments covering several stages of a workflow rather than forcing separate searches per instrument class.

What the data does not settle is long-term support, and a buyer should read the catalogue with that in mind. Partec now operates as Sysmex Partec GmbH, and parts for listed instruments can be sourced via Questpair, with specialists responding within the hour to a documentation request. The practical consequence is that the value of a used CyFlow depends heavily on its stated condition and on confirming parts availability for the specific model before committing, particularly for older CyFlow formats. The 10 suppliers currently listing Partec equipment across 7 countries give a buyer some room to compare condition and price between offers, which is the most useful lever on a market where no two used instruments are identical.

**Flow cytometry from the discipline's origin point**

Partec traces directly to Professor Dr. Wolfgang Göhde, who built the first fluorescence-based flow cytometer in Münster in 1967, so the CyFlow line sits at the root of the technique rather than adapting to it.

**A used-dominated catalogue at research-grade price points**

Of the Partec listings on Questpair, 98 percent are used, which puts instruments like the CyFlow Cube and CyScope within reach of labs priced out of new flow cytometers.

**Breadth across cell analysis, not a single instrument type**

The listed equipment spans flow cytometers, fluorescence microscopes, and gel electrophoresis systems, letting a single supplier search cover several stages of a cell-analysis workflow.