The Scientist magazine recently convened a panel of experts in the life sciences industry to take a hard look at the latest technological advances in the field, and Pacific Biosciences emerged as the leading innovator with its breakthrough PacBIO RS, which gives investigators a chance to track real-time biologic processes in a single molecule.
Pacific Biosciences, a 2009 Fierce 15 winner, has been a red-hot player in the world of drug discovery. And its new, third-generation sequencing product was one of 10 singled out by the magazine that promises to streamline complex and expensive work being done in the lab. The Scientist's primary focus was on new tools--sequencers, imagers, and cell counters--and in addition to Pacific Biosciences the experts tapped Sigma-Aldrich, EMD Millipore and Cellular Dynamics International for their cutting-edge work.
Cellular Dynamics, another past Fierce 15 winner, was singled out for its iCell Cardiomyocytes--"human heart cells in a test tube."
"The main purpose of [the] iCell Cardiomyocytes product is for drug discovery," says Joleen Rau, senior director of marketing and communications at CDI. "Cardiotoxicity is a serious problem in drug development and is the second biggest reason for drug withdrawal from the market. We saw a market need based on a serious human health issue and realized there was an opportunity to save pharma money, make drug development safer, and perhaps save lives."
Also recognized: Diffinity Genomics; Cambridge Research & Instrumentation; Reinnervate Limited; Applied Biosystems; Bio-Rad Laboratories and Redd&Whyte.
- here's the release
- read the article from The Scientist