Roche's Ventana unit and Advanced Cell Diagnostics have inked a co-promotion deal for the RNA in situ hybridization assay that permits the detection and visualization of almost any expressed gene in routine clinical specimens.
The partners will automate the system on the Ventana Discovery series of slide staining platforms. The product offerings should be available by Q1 2012--initially to research-use only applications.
In a statement, Yuling Luo, the founder, president and CEO of ACD, says the ability to generate reproducible results from routine clinical specimens "makes the technology a compelling platform for clinical diagnostic applications in the foreseeable future."
Bill Crawford, Ventana's director of marketing, Discovery, expressed similar enthusiasm, saying the combined platform "has significant potential to advance cell- and tissue-based biomarker analyses for future clinical and companion diagnostics development."
Hayward, CA-based ACD is looking to both develop proprietary diagnostic tests for cancer management and establish partnerships with biopharma companies to validate biomarkers for targeted therapeutic development, according to its website.
The Ventana agreement also isn't the only pact it has inked in 2011. Earlier this year, the company announced an agreement with Munich, Germany-based Definiens to develop image analysis apps that allow researchers to quantify individual cells in routine specimens.
- check out the Ventana-ACD release