General Life Science Instruments

Company Announcements

Clearbridge Health’s SAM Laboratory announced in November 2017 that it will become the exclusive provider of Nanostring Technologies’ Prosigna Breast Cancer Prognostic Gene Signature Assay in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, and a nonexclusive supplier throughout Asia.

In January, Nanostring Technologies announced a partnership agreement with Riken Genesis, a Sysmex subsidiary, to commercialize nCounter-based companion diagnostics assays in Japan, including its lymphoma subtyping test.

Nanostring Technologies named Thomas Bailey as CFO, effective January 16. He previously served as CFO for medical technology firm AgaMatrix.

In November 2017, Nano Global announced the development of a system-on-a-chip-based technology licensed from Arm. The chip will be used to capture and analyze molecular data in real time.

In February, Scientific Digital Imaging acquired the assets, stock, designs and trademarks of Quantum Scientific (QSI), a designer and manufacturer of high-quality scientific cameras, for $350,000.

Product Introductions

In December 2017, Syngene introduced the new GeneGnome XRQ chemiluminscence imaging system for Western blots. The software enables single or multi-image capture with different exposure times simultaneously.

Gene-based Analysis

Company Announcements

Sphere Fluidics announced in November 2017 the receipt of a €1.6 million ($1.9 million) grant from Eurostars to develop a large DNA cargo delivery and genome engineering system based on its Cyto-Mine Single Cell Analysis System (see SLAS 2018: Companies Unveil New Platforms).

Molecular Biology System announced in December 2017 that AMPLITECH will distribute its NEXTGENPCR thermal cycler in France and Switzerland.

In December 2017, GenDx signed a reseller agreement for Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Applied Biosystems QuantStudio real-time PCR systems. The systems are compatible with GenDx’s reagents and software for monitoring the chimeric status of bone marrow and stem cell receipients.

Meso Scale Discovery announced in January FDA 510(k) clearance of its conventional C-reactive protein assay for IVD use on the MESO SECTOR S700 system.

In February, OpGen entered into a global supply agreement to use Thermo Fisher Scientific’s real-time PCR technology in its Acuitas AMR Gene Panel Tests. The first test, a research-only test, is the AMR Gene Panel u5.47 for infection control and pharmaceutical surveillance. It wil employ Thermo Fishers’ TaqMan Fast Advanced Master Mix, TaqMan Probes and QuantStudio 5 Real-Time PCR System.

Product Introductions

In December 2017, JN Medsys launched the Clarity Plus+ digital PCR system, with more than 40,000 partitions per reaction and 4–6 color detection channels. The latest system provides more partitions and the ability to detect up to 384 or 576 different targets per run. Shipments begin in the second quarter.

In February, Quantabio launched the portable, compact, affordable Q cycler, which can process up to 48 samples and yields results in as little as 25 minutes. It is available in 2- or 4-channel models.

Bionano Genomics released in February a new chemistry for sequence motif labeling, Direct Label and Stain, for its genome mapping technology. Features include single-variant resolution down to 500 pb and a more streamlined workflow than the previous chemistry.

Cell-Based Instruments

Company Announcements

IsoPlexis announced in November 2017 receipt of $5.6 million in total funding, including four new grants from the NIH. The company’s IsoCode Chip detects cellular responses at the single-cell level.

In November 2017, the European Commission awarded €2.1million ($2.5 million) to Phase Holographic Imaging (PHI), BAM and Malmö University for a three-year project to develop improved methods for detecting cancer. PHI will have rights to commercialize the technology. PHI provides time-lapse cytometry instrumentation and software.

Symcel announced in November 2017 that it has secured €3.6 million ($4.2 million) in Horizon 2020 funding as part of a consortium to support its evaluation of improved combination testing of antibiotics against drug-resistant bacteria in sepsis patients. The company’s calScreener technology measures the metabolism of bacteria.

NanoCellect Biomedical raised $10 million in Series B funding in November 2017. The financing was led by Illumina Ventures and included participating investor Agilent Technologies, as well as other investors. NanoCellect Biomedical is developing the WOLF Cell Sorter for cell-based assays.

ACEA Biosciences announced in November 2017 a development and comarketing agreement with Ncardia to provide solutions for cardiac drug discovery and cardiac safety assessment. Under the agreement, ACEA Biosciences’ xCELLigence Real-Time Cell Analysis Cardio and CardioECR instruments are coupled with Ncardia’s Pluricyte andCor.4U human ISPC-derived cardiomyocytes.

In December 2017, Phasefocus named Nuohai Life Sciences as a distributor for China, Hong Kong and Macau.

Cell Microsystems announced in December 2017 that its CellRaft Technology that was previously available exclusively through QIAGEN is now available from multiple vendors. The system enables efficient sorting and isolation of single cells under standard culture conditions.

In January, Pfizer entered into a research and collaboration agreement to optimize Berkeley Lights’ Beacon Optofluidic platform with the goal of accelerating mAb discovery and gene editing workflows.

Cell Microsystems received a $1.5 million grant in January from the NIH’s Small Business Innovation Research program for development of the AIR-FLOW instrument for single-cell RNA-seq. The company has been awarded $6.8 million in NIH funding since February 2016. In 2017, company sales rose 67% to $2 million and it was profitable. The company’s CellRaft Technology enables high-efficiency sorting and isolation of single cells under standard culture conditions

In January, Sphere Fluidics announced the opening of a sales and support operation in New Jersey, which expands its North American presence.

Militenyi Biotec announced that it is part of the PiCoP (Peptide-based Immunization strategy for treating Colorectal and Pancreatic cancer) project, which has received a €4.6 million ($8 million) grant from the German State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern to develop a novel cell therapy to teach immune cells how to fight cancer.

Product Introductions

In January, Biolog introduced the MitoPlate S-1 and MitoPlate I-1 for use with its Biolog OmniLog instrument for comprehensive scanning of mitochondrial function.

In February, Takara Bio USA launched the SMARTer ICELL8 cx System, a high-throughput single-cell automation system. It includes a built-in imaging station and software analysis tool. The company also announced the SMART-Seq full-length transcriptome analysis technology for the system.

Sales and Orders of Notes

MILabs announced in November 2017 the installation of its VECTor5 Hybrid OI/CT in vivo animal imaging system at the Institute of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences at Guangdong University of Technology in China.

Berkeley Lights announced in November 2017 that Teva Pharmaceuticals Australia implemented its Beacon platform for antibody discovery.

In January, Berkeley Lights announced the implementation of its Beacon optofluidic platform by Novartis for antibody discovery. Novartis was an early adopter of the technology and has now accepted the platform.

Berkeley Lights announced in January that Shire has purchased its Beacon optofluidic patform to accelerate its cell line–development process.

In November 2017, Aenitis Technologies received €4 million ($5 million) in funding as part of Phase 2 European program, part of Horizon 2020, to develop its Acoustic Blood Cell Sorter.

Protein-based Analysis

Company Announcements

In January, the Centre for Process Innovation announced a consortium to develop a novel analytical platform to improve the rapid analysis of the glycosylation profiles of biotherapeutics. The other members are  GlycoSeLect, ForteBio Pall Life Science and Allergan Biologics. The new technology will serve as an alternative to LC/MS analysis.

Carterra announced in January that it has raised $10 million in financing to develop its LSA instrument, a fully automated, high-throughput mAb characterization platform based on its label-free biosensing technology.

Product Introductions

In December 2017, Nanomedical Diagnostics released the new Getting Started Kit, a self-training package for its Agile R100 assay platform and Field Effect Biosensing technology. The Kit can be completed by a new user in four hours at a personal benchtop.

SCIEX launched in January the CE-based C100HT system for qualitative glycan screening for decisions in clone selection and cull culture optimization. The system includes an assay kit configured for up to one thousand separations and a 12-capillary reagent cartridge. An analysis dashboard enables pass/fail results to be viewed at a glance. It comes with a mobile lab bench. Ninety-six samples can be prepared in less than two hours.

Sales and Orders of Note

Creoptix announced in November 2017 that lead discovery company leadXpro selected its WAVEdelta system for membrane-protein drug discovery projects. The Wave technology utilizes real-time label-free molecular interaction analysis.

In January, Bio-Techne announced that contract research testing service BioAgilytix has added its ProteinSimple-branded ELLA immunoassay platform to support multiplex biomarker analysis in cases where assay variability and antibody cross-reactivity are of particular concern.