Foster City, California and
Woburn, Massachussets
November 12, 2007
- Applied Biosystems and
BioTrove, Inc. to collaborate on integrated platform for
high-throughput genotyping
- Platform will simplify workflows and expand use of TaqMan®
assays for a wide range of genotyping applications
Applied Biosystems
(NYSE: ABI), an Applera Corporation business, today announced
that it has signed a licensing and collaboration agreement with
BioTrove, Inc. to
commercialize an analysis platform for high-throughput
genotyping applications. Applied Biosystems will develop and
market custom-built arrays of TaqMan® SNP Genotyping Assays
pre-loaded on BioTrove’s OpenArray™ platform. This platform will
integrate the ease-of-use, accuracy, and reproducibility of
Applied Biosystems’ TaqMan SNP Genotyping Assays with BioTrove’s
flexible high-density assay format, enabling researchers to
rapidly perform high-throughput genotyping studies at a lower
total cost compared to alternative commercially available
methods.
Under terms of the agreement, Applied Biosystems retains the
rights to commercialize all genotyping applications, including
assays other than ones based on TaqMan technology, for
BioTrove’s platform. Applied Biosystems plans to commercialize
and service all components of this analysis platform during the
second half of 2008. Applied Biosystems is also retaining an
option to collaborate with BioTrove, Inc. for developing and
commercializing the OpenArray platform for high-throughput gene
expression applications.
In a separate agreement, Applied Biosystems has granted a
worldwide license under patent rights related to
real-time thermal cyclers, microfluidics, and data analysis to
BioTrove, Inc. Under the agreement, BioTrove will have the right
to manufacture and sell real-time thermal cyclers and array
sample loaders in the life-sciences research field, as well as
to develop further real-time PCR applications for its OpenArray
platform. Financial terms of the agreements were not disclosed.
Overall, this collaboration is expected to expand the potential
uses of TaqMan technology across a wide range of genomic
applications. The genotyping platform provides an extremely
fast, high-throughput screening and validation tool for
researchers in agricultural, pharmaceutical, and other
commercial industries, as well as academic institutions.
Examples of studies that should benefit from the use of this
platform include those that associate genotypes with: complex
diseases, varied responses of individuals to different
treatments for disease, measurable traits for quality control in
agricultural studies, and the identity of different pathogens in
biosecurity applications.
When pre-loaded with TaqMan SNP Genotyping Assays, BioTrove’s
OpenArray platform enables researchers to perform genotyping
studies that investigate tens to hundreds of single base
changes, or SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) across
hundreds to thousands of samples. This scale of genotyping study
is often performed as part of breeding and quality control
processes in the agricultural industry. In these applications,
researchers investigate how SNPs from multiple genes contribute
to measurable traits. These SNPs are then used as genetic
markers for quality control testing, tracking, or selective
breeding of crops and livestock. Alternatively, large-scale
disease association studies can involve over 10,000 to 20,000
samples and also require high sample throughput technology to
ensure efficient genotyping across candidate SNPs.
Researchers using this integrated platform can experience an
end-to-end genotyping workflow of less than four hours, enabling
them to analyze thousands of samples in days in contrast to
weeks on alternative genotyping platforms. As the OpenArray
platform consumes less reagent per assay (33 nl per reaction)
than current alternative commercially available offerings,
applications can be performed in a more cost-effective manner.
“We believe that customers in industries such as health care,
food, and agriculture will benefit from a cost-effective,
flexible genotyping solution that combines Applied Biosystems’
gold-standard TaqMan assay products with BioTrove’s flexible
high-throughput OpenArray platform,” said Peter Dansky,
president for Applied Biosystems’ molecular and cell biology
consumables business. “This collaboration will provide
researchers and commercial organizations with a validation and
screening tool that has the potential to dramatically improve
genotyping workflows critical to the success of their
enterprise.”
The razor-thin BioTrove OpenArray consumable device has a
flexible array format that enables researchers to perform more
than 3,000 different high-throughput genotyping assays in a
variety of different configurations. For example, using one
OpenArray slide, researchers can genotype as many as 144
samples, and interrogate 16 SNPs per sample, or, in a single
sample, interrogate as many as 3,072 SNPs.
The OpenArray platform will provide researchers with customized
arrays of TaqMan SNP Genotyping Assays from a single source,
simplifying their workflow for performing a variety of
high-throughput genotyping applications. Researchers will be
able to select assays from Applied Biosystems’ comprehensive
line of more than 4.5 million individual pre-designed TaqMan®
SNP Genotyping Assays, Custom TaqMan® SNP Genotyping Assays, or
TaqMan® DME Genotyping Assays for detecting polymorphisms in the
drug metabolism enzyme genes. Once customers receive their
assays pre-loaded on BioTrove’s OpenArray™ consumable devices,
they will then use an automated sample loader to introduce their
DNA samples into the arrays. After a short processing time, the
OpenArray slides are read by the accompanying software to
determine sample genotype.
“The strength of the product design resulting from this
collaboration provides researchers in public and private
industries with the speed, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness
of the BioTrove OpenArray platform and the specificity and
reproducibility of Applied Biosystems’ comprehensive line of
TaqMan assay products – all in a single solution,” said Al
Luderer, Ph.D., president and CEO of BioTrove, Inc. “By
streamlining researchers’ genotyping workflows, we are
accelerating the discovery and utilization of science impacting
public health—from healthier foods to better health care.”
Applied Biosystems is a global leader in the development and
commercialization of instrument-based systems, consumables,
software, and services for the life-science market. Applied
Biosystems has pre-designed more than 700,000 TaqMan® Gene
Expression Assays and more than 4.5 million TaqMan® SNP
Genotyping Assays. Complementing these off-the-shelf products
are custom TaqMan® assays, which are available for
customer-specific gene expression or genotyping targets, and
TaqMan DME Genotyping Assays. More information about Applied
Biosystems’ complete line of gene expression and genotyping
solutions is available at:
http://info.appliedbiosystems.com.
About Applera Corporation and Applied Biosystems
Applera Corporation consists of two operating groups. Applied
Biosystems serves the life science industry and research
community by developing and marketing instrument-based systems,
consumables, software, and services. Customers use these tools
to analyze nucleic acids (DNA and RNA), small molecules, and
proteins to make scientific discoveries and develop new
pharmaceuticals. Applied Biosystems’ products also serve the
needs of some markets outside of life science research, which we
refer to as “applied markets,” such as the fields of: human
identity testing (forensic and paternity testing); biosecurity,
which refers to products needed in response to the threat of
biological terrorism and other malicious, accidental, and
natural biological dangers; and quality and safety testing, such
as testing required for food and pharmaceutical manufacturing.
Applied Biosystems is headquartered in Foster City, CA, and
reported sales of approximately $2.1 billion during fiscal 2007.
Celera is a diagnostics business delivering personalized disease
management solutions through a combination of tests and services
based on proprietary genetics discovery platforms. The business
is developing diagnostic products that predict disease risk and
optimize therapy selection and patient outcomes, based on the
discovery and validation of novel markers in complex diseases
such as cardiovascular disease, breast cancer, and liver and
autoimmune diseases. Celera also maintains a strategic alliance
with Abbott for the development and commercialization of some of
its molecular diagnostic products. Information about Applera
Corporation, including reports and other information filed by
the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, is
available at
http://www.applera.com or by telephoning 800.762.6923.
Information about Applied Biosystems is available at
http://www.appliedbiosystems.com.
About BioTrove, Inc.
BioTrove, Inc. offers two innovative technology platforms:
RapidFire™, which enables the acceleration of drug discovery and
pipeline decisions, and OpenArray™, which advances genomic
research in a wide range of life science fields, including
agriculture, disease research, bio-defense, and public health.
With more than half of the world's ten largest pharmaceutical
companies as clients, and partnerships with prestigious research
and public health centers around the world, BioTrove's products
and services ensure that an industry committed to accuracy and
speed can meet business goals.
RapidFire™ Mass Spectrometry (RFMS) uses an innovative
microfluidic technology to facilitate analysis at faster than 10
seconds per sample, eliminating the bottleneck created by
traditional mass spectrometry throughput. RFMS is routinely used
in many applications including the high-throughput screening of
previously intractable drug targets, cytochrome P450 inhibition
and other ADME assays and directed evolution studies.
The OpenArray™ Platform enables genomics researchers to generate
SNP and real time qPCR data in the hundreds of thousands of data
points per day, significantly increasing the number of samples
analyzed while significantly decreasing the time and cost
required. The flexible format and nanoliter scale of the
OpenArray™ system allows for easy adjustment of sample and assay
numbers, achieving economical, high-throughput genomics.
For more information, please visit
www.biotrove.com.
For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.
Practice of the patented 5’ Nuclease Process requires a license
from Applied Biosystems.
Applera, Applied Biosystems, and AB (Design) are registered
trademarks of Applera Corporation or its subsidiaries in the
U.S. and/or certain other countries. TaqMan is a registered
trademark of Roche Molecular Systems, Inc.
BioTrove, OpenArray, RapidFire, and the BioTrove logo are
trademarks of BioTrove, Inc.
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