Definiens AG, a healthcare company that advances personalized medicine through image analysis and digital pathology solutions, and Advanced Cell Diagnostics (ACD) of Hayward California, a leader in molecular pathology, announced recently the commercial launch of RNAscope® SpotStudio™, a custom-designed image analysis software application for ACD's RNAscope®Assays to detect and quantify RNA biomarkers. By combining state-of-the-art image analysis and advanced in situ hybridization technologies, gene expression can be measured quantitatively at single cell resolution and interpreted by pathologists within context.
Historically, manual scoring of tissue biomarkers and phenotypes has been time consuming, prone to subjectivity, and poor reproducibility. RNAscope® SpotStudio™ Software is designed to be intuitive for pathologists and life science researchers to use and generate standardized and objective results in minutes, and is compatible for use with whole slide scanners and microscopes. In a recent publication featured in the Journal of Molecular Diagnostics (3/15/2013; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23305906), a team led by Dr. Raymond Tubbs at Cleveland Clinic applied this novel approach to determine HER2 status in breast cancer patients and compared it with conventional testing methods such as FISH, IHC and qRT-PCR. The results demonstrated 97% concordance between quantitative RNAscope and FISH. SpotStudio-based single-cell level quantification of HER2 mRNA demonstrated strong correlation with qRT-PCR (Pearson r = 0.84) and was superior to qRT-PCR in resolving equivocal or heterogeneous HER2 status.
"The combination of RNAscope® with SpotStudio™ Image Analysis Software is extremely powerful for advancing the biomarker research and diagnostics." said Thomas Heydler, CEO of Definiens. "We believe that while genome studies have started the revolution in healthcare, personalized medicine will distinctly depend on advanced diagnostics at the tissue and cellular level. This partnership is a demonstration of the future of in situ biomarker analysis--a breakthrough single cell RNA assay plus a powerful image analysis solution to extract the results."
"Combining the advantages of IHC and PCR, it is a breakthrough technology for tissue based biomarker studies and companion diagnostics. By partnering with Definiens, we are able to commercialize a truly revolutionary solution. For the first time, researchers can detect and quantify RNA in individual cells of interest in heterogeneous tissues to better understand the biology of particular genes and cells." said Yuling Luo, Founder, President, and CEO of ACD.
The RNAscope® Assay and SpotStudio™ Software is commercialized through ACD and can be purchased by contacting ACD at orders@acdbio.com,
Additional product information is available at http://www.acdbio.com/products/spotstudio-software
About Definiens
Definiens is the leading provider of image analysis solutions and data mining solutions for life science, tissue diagnostics, and clinical digital pathology. Definiens' technology provides detailed biomarker readouts from slide images and enables the correlation of this information with other key clinical or genomic information. Definiens helps pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, research institutions, clinical service organizations and pathologists to generate new knowledge and support better decisions in research, diagnostics and therapy.
Definiens’ vision is to open new fields of research, to contribute to development of personalized medicine, and to significantly improve the quality of patients' lives. Definiens is headquartered in Munich, Germany and has its North American headquarters in Carlsbad, CA. Further information is available at www.definiens.com.
About Advanced Cell Diagnostics
Advanced Cell Diagnostics, Inc. is a leader in the emerging field of molecular pathology, developing cell and tissue-based diagnostic tests for personalized medicine. The company’s products and services are based on its proprietary RNAscope® technology, the first automated multiplex chromogenic and fluorescent in situ hybridization platform capable of detecting and quantifying RNA biomarkers in situ at single-molecule sensitivity. RNAscope® assays are currently used by hundreds of customers, including all of the global top 10 pharmaceutical companies, world leading academic institutions and many cutting edge biotechnology companies to validate biomarkers for the management of cancer and other diseases. ACD’s industrial partnerships provide the foundation for ACD to develop companion diagnostic tests in conjunction with partners’ targeted therapeutics. ACD also pursues internal programs to develop and commercialize proprietary diagnostic tests in cancer management. Learn more about ACD and RNAscope® technology at www.acdbio.com.