TORONTO, Nov. 28 /PRNewswire/ - Axela Biosensors Inc. and Beckman Coulter Inc. today announced the signing of a nonexclusive licensing agreement, giving Axela rights to Beckman Coulter’s patented A(2)(R) Universal Linker Capture Technology. The terms of the license were not disclosed. Axela will incorporate the technology into their dotLab(TM) Sensors, which will give researchers the unique ability to create user-defined multiplex biomarker panels.
Combining A(2) Universal Linkers with the recently launched dotLab System allows researchers to create custom multiplex protein assays without the need for specialized pipetting or spotting techniques. Scientists will be able to select from an Axela library of pre-conjugated antibodies, or use their own proprietary reagents for conjugation to universal linkers.
“The innovative Universal Linker approach will allow users to tag their own antibodies or draw from a library of existing markers to build combined assays with micromolar to picomolar sensitivity requirements,” explains Rocky Ganske, CEO of Axela Biosensors. “Coupled with the dotLab System, this self-addressing DNA approach gives the translational researcher a simple and flexible method to perform multiplexed immunoassays, and has the potential to significantly transform the speed in which putative biomarkers can be validated.”
Dr. Jim Osborne, Vice President of the Advanced Technology Center at Beckman Coulter added, “We are very pleased that the unique Universal Linkers technology is being used in Axela’s benchtop solution for implementation of multiplexed assays. This innovative approach will help researchers simplify and automate the biomarker discovery to validation process - by mixing and matching the protein panels of interest, researchers can obtain more relevant data in a shorter amount of time.”
About Axela Biosensors, Inc.
Axela Biosensors is commercializing products that accelerate the validation of protein biomarkers from discovery into routine clinical practice. The Company has developed a proprietary breakthrough technology, Diffractive Optics Technology (dot(TM)), which enables the real-time detection and quantitation of protein binding events in complex media. Axela has developed this technology into the dotLab(TM) System, a commercially available bench-top laboratory system that delivers simple, affordable, yet highly sensitive protein based assays. To leverage the opportunities that dot(TM) creates, Axela has assembled a management team with extensive experience in diagnostic and research product development and commercialization. Axela Biosensors is a privately-held company based in Toronto, Canada whose major investor is VenGrowth Private Equity Partners Inc., one of Canada’s premier private equity managers. For more information, please visit www.axelabiosensors.com.
About Beckman Coulter, Inc.
Beckman Coulter, Inc. is a leading manufacturer of biomedical testing instrument systems, tests and supplies that simplify and automate laboratory processes. Spanning the biomedical testing continuum - from pioneering medical research and clinical trials to laboratory diagnostics and point-of-care testing - Beckman Coulter’s 200,000 installed systems provide essential biomedical information to enhance health care around the world. The company, based in Fullerton, California, reported 2005 annual sales of $ 2.44 billion with 71.5 percent of this amount generated by recurring revenue from supplies, test kits, services and operating-type lease payments. For more information, please visit www.beckmancoulter.com.
A(2)(R) is a registered trademark of Beckman Coulter, Inc.
dotLab(TM) and dot(TM) are trademarks of Axela Biosensors.
Axela Biosensors Inc.
CONTACT: Owen Gordon, Director, Finance & Corporate Development, AxelaBiosensors, Phone: (416) 260-9050 x2243, E-mail:o.gordon@axelabiosensors.com; Mary Luthy, Corporate Communications, BeckmanCoulter, Phone: (714) 993-8770, E-mail: mluthy@beckman.com
