Toronto, Canada,- Axela Inc. announced today it has entered into a development agreement to integrate Thermal Gradient’s rapid PCR technology into Axela’s Flow-Thru Chip® automated workflow. Thermal Gradient’s sample preparation and amplification technology will initially be added to Axela’s patent pending approach for the capture and quantification of targeted nucleic acids. Currently optimized for formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissue, the process is designed to accommodate a wide range of specimens including other biopsy samples, blood and isolated cells.

“Axela’s Ziplex® workstation was designed to make multiplexed molecular diagnostic tests available to the routine clinical laboratory” said Paul Smith, President of Axela. “Automating sample preparation will further simplify the process, making these tests practical to run locally with rapid turnaround, reduced labor and lowered cost. For example, this will permit same shift answers for comprehensive tests under development like Axela’s FFPE tumor based Breast Cancer Sub Typing and Prognostic Assay.”

“We are excited to be part of the evolution of Axela’s molecular diagnostic platform,” commented Robert Juncosa, Thermal Gradient’s CEO. “Our technology enables us to design inexpensive devices that perform PCR in just a few minutes. It is our business model to adapt our PCR and other sample preparation capabilities to a partner’s application. The integration of our technology with Axela’s Flow-Thru Chip® rapid hybridization and detection capabilities will provide a powerful automated solution for the broad markets that benefit from higher multiplex analysis.”

Axela’s Flow-Thru Chip® platform (5-250 targets per sample) addresses the gap between multiplexed PCR and high density DNA/RNA arrays. Ziplex® is highly cost effective and can be readily integrated into established laboratory workflows. The same platform is capable of fully automated protein analysis, offering significant advantages over bead or plate based approaches. Rapid multiplex results have been demonstrated in applications spanning oncology, pathogen detection, allergy, immune status and brain injury.