Fluidigm Corporation has launched a new platform for gene expression analysis that runs gold standard TaqMan® assays on nanofluidic chips known as BioMark dynamic arrays. The BioMark system delivers radically higher throughput than 384-microwell plate systems, and at greatly reduced running costs. With the system's clear-cut advantages, the Company expects to take a significant share of the $1 billion real-time qPCR market, which experts estimate to be growing at 20 to 25 percent annually.
"This technology will likely change the competitive environment for quantitative PCR applications," said Dr. Michael Hunkapiller, former President and General Manager of Applied Biosystems (ABI) and a member of the Fluidigm Board of Directors. "Dynamic arrays present the first substantial challenge to the microwell plate paradigm."
384-well systems "” together with TaqMan chemistry and microwell plates "” have dominated the high-throughput market since introduction of the first-generation technology in the late 1990s. BioMark dynamic arrays provide clearly superior performance versus 384-microwell plates:
- Six-fold higher throughput; one dynamic array gives 2,304 parallel data points, the equivalent of six 384-well plates.
- 50-fold less master mix; 120 microliters compared to 11,500 microliters for 2,304 reactions.
- A 48-fold increase in multiplexing; dynamic arrays run 48 assays against each of 48 samples at a time.
- A 100-fold decrease in setup complexity; dynamic arrays require only 96 pipetting steps per 2,304 reactions compared to 4,608 for an equivalent number of microwell plate experiments.
"Fluidigm anticipates that BioMark dynamic arrays will remove the logistical and technological road blocks that have frustrated practitioners of high-throughput qPCR," according to Fluidigm CEO Gajus Worthington. These include researchers in diagnostics and drug development who seek to validate molecular markers against thousands to tens of thousands of patient samples. Whereas such studies require thousands of microwell plates and multiple robotic systems, the same studies can now be accomplished with a few hundred chips, a single BioMark system, and in a matter of days. For more information on the BioMark system, including dynamic arrays and thermal cycling and detection instrumentation, please visit www.fluidigm.com.
About Fluidigm
Fluidigm Corporation develops and distributes systems based on the unique properties of integrated fluidic circuits (IFCs) to precisely control fluids on a nanovolume scale. The company's vision is to create and to lead a new industry in which IFCs bring unparalleled efficiencies to the life science and allied fields. Based in South San Francisco, California, the Company is privately held and backed by premier investors: Versant Ventures, Euclid SR Partners, InterWest Partners, Alloy Ventures, Lehman Brothers Healthcare Fund, Bio*One Capital, Bruce Burrows, Lilly BioVentures, the Invus Group, SightLine Partners, AllianceBernstein and GE Equity.
Fluidigm, the Fluidigm logo, and BioMark are trademarks or registered trademarks of Fluidigm Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.
TaqMan is a registered trademark of Roche Molecular Systems, Inc.
