Company Progress Cited on Three Fronts - OpenArray and RapidFire Technologies Adopted by Academic, Government and BioPharma Industry Circles
Executives On-Site at DDT Conference to Discuss Developments, August 6-9
CEO Al Luderer to Address Leerink Swann Life Science Tools Roundtable, August 9
Woburn, MA, August 1, 2007 - BioTrove, Inc. today reported business progress during the first half of 2007. Developments include strengthening corporate structure, advancing its two core technologies and driving business growth in academic, industry and government accounts.
"The first part of 2007 saw dramatic inroads into many of the most prestigious academic research centers in the United States, as well as leading biopharmaceutical companies worldwide, for BioTrove's OpenArray and RapidFire technologies, as bench scientists seek wide-scale and rapid testing of samples and promising clinical leads," said Albert A. Luderer, Ph.D., president and CEO, BioTrove.
"Following on the heels of our partnerships with leading academic centers such as Brigham and Women's, Harvard and Stanford, we entered into business relationships with some of the world's leading agricultural and biopharmaceutical companies, including Syngenta Seeds and OncoMethylome Sciences, and co-published drug discovery research with such pharmaceutical giants as Merck & Co., Bayer and Takeda - at the same time developing a new generation of compound analysis technologies," he added.
For more information on innovative BioTrove solutions for life sciences and drug discovery research, please visit BioTrove at Booth #608 at the 12th Annual Drug Discovery and Development Conference (DDT), August 6-9 in Boston, Massachusetts.
Six-month BioTrove corporate highlights include:
1. Stanford University Genome Technology Center Advances Genetic Research and Development with OpenArray™ System (February 26)
Stanford University is now using OpenArray technology in multiple applications, including single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based tests. Potential PCR-based research projects in the Stanford Genome Technology lab include using OpenArray plates to simultaneously detect multiple pathogens such as Salmonella in a single food sample, enabling rapid analysis of tainted food or rapid screening of food supplies. The outcome may result in analyzing and directing public health officials to the root of food-quality concerns.
"One of the challenges facing academic research centers is access to high-accuracy, cost-sensible technologies," said head researcher Dr. Ronald Davis, director, Stanford Genome Technology lab. "Increasing the number of reactions analyzed at one time by as much as ten-fold, and with the flexibility to use its technology in multiple applications, the OpenArray™ platform enables faster, more cost-effective analysis of biologic samples."
2. UC-Davis School of Medicine Investigates Human Disease Genetics with OpenArray™ System (March 20)
Researchers at UC-Davis are utilizing an OpenArray NT Imager to conduct SNP genotyping of large community-based patient cohorts, with the goal of identifying genetic variations linked to disease susceptibility. OpenArray enables SNP analysis across tens of thousands of patient samples - dramatically expanding study size and data significance.
"To better understand the genetic variation of disease and its links to human ancestry, we have embarked on a study using tens of thousands of patient samples," said Michael F. Seldin. M.D., Ph.D., Rowe Chair of Human Genetics, University of California, Davis School of Medicine. "These studies will provide the ability to both look at whether ancestry is linked to disease, as well as to better design experimental studies in admixed populations such as African Americans and various Hispanic groups."
3. BioTrove's Dr. Colin Brenan addresses International qPCR Symposium in Germany (March 26)
BioTrove Chief Technology Officer Colin Brenan, Ph.D., was an invited speaker at the prestigious 3rd Annual International qPCR Symposium in Freising Weihenstephan, Germany, delivering a presentation titled "Massively Parallel, Nanoliter-Scale PCR for High Throughput Genomics," discussing the impact of BioTrove OpenArray™ technology on diverse areas as pharmaceutical R&D, plant and livestock breeding, environmental testing for food or water-borne pathogens and testing for infectious diseases to monitor public health.
4. Gregory C. Critchfield, M.D. Joins Board of Directors (April 30)
Gregory C. Critchfield, M.D., M.S., joined the BioTrove board of directors, adding expertise in disease testing and pharmaceutical development. Dr. Critchfield is president of Myriad Genetic Laboratories, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Myriad Genetics, Inc. His appointment expanded the BioTrove board to seven corporate directors.
5. Harvard Medical School and Brigham & Women's Study Biodefense and Stem Cell Research Applications with US Department of Defense Funding and OpenArray (April 17)
Funded by the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, researchers at Brigham & Women's Center for Molecular Orthopedics and at Harvard purchased and installed the BioTrove OpenArray NT Cycler and OpenArray plates for use in studying human response to chemical weapons and stem cell differentiation.
"We predict examining the body's response to a pathogen will be a more sensitive way to detect its presence, enabling us to rapidly identify and treat patients in a situation such as biowarfare," said Keith Crawford, MD, PhD, Principal Investigator, Orthopedics, Harvard Medical School.
6. Syngenta Seeds and BioTrove Establish Genomics Technology Relationship to Accelerate Seed Breeding for Agriculture (May 8)
BioTrove supplies Syngenta Seeds with OpenArray technology for genotyping to more rapidly develop new seed varieties. The technology is used in two of large Syngenta seed R&D and breeding labs: Slater, Iowa (corn and soybeans) and Toulouse, France (vegetables, diverse field crops, flowers). BioTrove and Syngenta previously worked together on corn and soybean molecular analysis projects. This agreement marked BioTrove's first major venture into agriculture genomics, formalizing and broadening the relationship.
"With this technology, we will be able to analyze millions of genome samples within the same time and space parameters that previously allowed us to analyze only thousands," said Ray Riley, Global Head of Product Development, Syngenta Seeds.
7. Michigan State University (MSU)Center for Microbial Ecology and Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Engage BioTrove OpenArray™ System for Multiple Research Applications (May 22)
MSU researchers will use OpenArray to explore key issues related to pathogen detection, genetic screening, and microbial community analysis. Researchers are using the technology platform to develop high-throughput screening assays for pathogens and antibiotic-resistant genes, in order to identify particular pathogens and confirm or refute their presence in environments such as the water supply.
8. BioTrove Launches Enabling Drug-Drug Interaction Applications for RapidFire™ Drug Discovery Platform (May 31)
BioTrove's fully-validated suite of drug-drug interaction (DDI) assays enables researchers to advance lead optimization with highly accurate mass spectromic data on the RapidFire Mass Spectrometry platform (RF-MS), helping to accelerate the drug discovery and development process.
9. BioTrove Establishes Supply Agreement for OpenArray™ Technology with OncoMethylome Sciences (July 10)
BioTrove will supply OncoMethylome with OpenArray technology enabling development of cancer biomarkers. OncoMethylome biomarkers are used to detect the presence of cancer cells, enabling earlier diagnosis, and to predict the cancer's response to treatment to determine best therapy.
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 or contact:
Dr. Albert Luderer, President and CEO
BioTrove, Inc.
781-721-3648
info@biotrove.com
Arielle Bernstein
Makovsky + Company
212-508-9643
abernstein@makovsky.com
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