Firms will also develop specific diagnostic identification, scoring, and reporting software for future LabChip Dx instruments.
Caliper Life Sciences and DxTerity Diagnostics entered into a co-development and co-marketing collaboration that will allow researchers to perform DxTerity’s NEAT multiplex diagnostic assays on Caliper’s LabChip Dx platform. Caliper’s future LabChip Dx instruments will include specific diagnostic identification, scoring, and reporting software, developed in collaboration with DxTerity.
The aim is to minimize sample processing time without compromising data quality. “DxTerity’s simple and robust NEAT assays combined with the ease-of-use of the Caliper LabChip Dx system will eliminate significant barriers to the use of multiplex genomic tests in the clinical laboratory and lead to major gains in personalized medicine,” predicts Bob Terbrueggen, Ph.D., president and CEO of DxTerity.
NEAT assays allow analysis of gene expression and detection of SNPs directly from blood or formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissue samples. Multiplex assays for up to 40 gene targets are routinely performed.
DxTerity lead product in development is a blood screening test designed to measure a patient’s radiation exposure following a nuclear event. The test is scheduled for release in June 2012. DxTerity is also developing low-cost, blood-based cancer screening tests based on the gene signature panels acquired from SourceMDx.
Caliper’s LabChip Dx system, based on microfluidic separation technology, enables high-throughput multiplex analysis for discovery and validation of nucleic acid and protein biomarkers. LabChip Dx uses minimal sample volumes and enables automated sample processing and analysis.
“We believe this collaboration with DxTerity will result in a significant expansion of the number and type of tests available for readout by the LabChip Dx platform,” states Kevin Hrusovsky, president and CEO of Caliper Life Sciences.
