Fluidigm Europe has announced the new EP1 system for genetic analysis that combines the efficiencies of integrated fluidic circuit (IFC)-based genotyping in a desktop-sized configuration, with a very affordable system price.

The new compact benchtop system, with Fluidigm Dynamic Arrays, provides superior data quality, a fast and easy workflow, and significant cost savings for SNP genotyping studies. The EP1 system delivers the highest quality SNP genotyping results on the market with better than 99 percent call rates and 99.75 percent or greater accuracy. All of this is achieved with an easy-to-use, high-throughput workflow that can provide up to 9,216 data points per IFC chip with results in just four hours. The EP1 system, which includes the IFC Controller, Stand Alone Thermal Cycler and End Point Reader, provides over 27,000 genotypes a day. By adding more IFC controllers and thermal cyclers to be used in conjunction with a single EP1 Reader, laboratories can generate more than 200,000 genotypes in a day.

The EP1 system can also perform digital PCR, such as for copy number variation analysis. Fluidigm is the only company today offering a commercially available digital PCR system. Using a Fluidigm Digital Array – an IFC designed specifically for digital PCR – the EP1 system provides the highest sensitivity and fastest workflow available for researchers studying copy number variation. The system can easily distinguish between four and five copies and provide results in just a few hours while requiring only minutes of hands-on time.

“Fluidigm’s EP1 system provides the power of IFC technology, the system flexibility to provide true, high-throughput genotyping, the ability to perform digital PCR and a cost-effective system price,” said Gajus Worthington, Fluidigm President and Chief Executive Officer. “Customers will benefit from the lowest running costs for TaqMan-based SNP genotyping because of the tiny reagent volumes required by integrated fluidic circuit technology and they can complete their work – from start to finish — in less than four hours.”

Fluidigm develops, manufactures and markets proprietary Integrated Fluidic Circuit (IFC) systems that significantly improve productivity in life science research. Fluidigm’s IFCs enable the simultaneous performance of thousands of sophisticated biochemical measurements in extremely minute volumes. These “integrated circuits for biology” are made possible by miniaturizing and integrating liquid handling components on a single microfabricated device. Fluidigm’s IFC systems, consisting of instrumentation, software and single-use IFCs, increase throughput, decrease costs and enhance sensitivity compared to conventional laboratory systems. Fluidigm products have not been cleared or approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use as a diagnostic and are only available for research use.

* Digital PCR is a technique to quantify the amount of DNA in a sample by counting amplifications from single molecules. Fluidigm is the industry leader in providing digital PCR to the commercial market.

* Fluidigm, the Fluidigm logo, Topaz, BioMark, and NanoFlex are trademarks of Fluidigm Corporation.