Insider Brief
- Bio-Techne Corporation announced that Lunaphore, a Bio-Techne brand, and SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, have received Innosuisse funding for a project to develop AI-based assay development tools for spatial biology on Lunaphore’s COMET platform.
- The collaboration aims to advance the adoption of multiplex sequential immunofluorescence technology in research fields like cancer biology and immuno-oncology, addressing challenges in making spatial biology technologies more accessible for personalized therapies.
- The COMET platform offers an automated, high-throughput solution for spatial biology, with the new AI techniques developed by SIB expected to reduce technical complexity and human error in multiplex immunofluorescence protocols, potentially improving healthcare outcomes and reducing costs.
PRESS RELEASE — MINNEAPOLIS/December 14, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ: TECH) today announced that Lunaphore, a Bio-Techne brand, and SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, have been awarded Innosuisse funding for an innovation project. The collaboration aims to develop novel AI-based assay development tools for spatial biology on Lunaphore’s COMET™ to further accelerate the adoption of multiplex sequential immunofluorescence (seqIF™) technology in research.
Spatial biology utilizes detailed tissue analysis and intracellular interactions to enable profound insights in cancer biology, immuno-oncology, and other research fields. However, technical hurdles still stand in the way of spatial biology technologies entering clinics and becoming guiding tools for personalized therapies.
Lunaphore’s COMET product suite provides the first universal, end-to-end spatial biology solution, answering the needs of the scientific community in translational and clinical research. COMET is the only fully automated, high-throughput, hyperplex platform ensuring scalability and reproducibility without the need to conjugate primary antibodies, making panel design much more flexible and faster than any other hyperplex solution.
COMET’s seqIF approach is a valuable tool for advancing spatial biology adoption in the clinic. The collaboration will focus on automating standardized multiplex immunofluorescence (mIF) protocols, with the machine learning-based tools expected to enable researchers to further reduce mIF’s technical complexity and eliminate human-driven error. AI techniques developed by SIB will further enhance the platform’s automated approach, and aim to ensure the robustness of protocol transfer to virtually any tissue. In the long term, the project has the potential to improve human health and reduce healthcare costs by implementing automated leading-edge technology and accelerating the discovery of next-generation therapeutic interventions.
“The COMET platform is revolutionizing spatial biology by making spatial technologies more accessible to every lab,” said Kim Kelderman, Bio-Techne’s Chief Operating Officer. “With a focus on novel AI-based approaches for assay development, this scientific collaboration is a unique project that will empower scientists to reach their research goals more efficiently and develop the next generation of personalized therapies.”
“This new collaboration with Lunaphore is an excellent opportunity to showcase SIB’s expertise in AI to support innovation and state-of-the-art technological developments in the medtech sector,” said Aitana Neves, Team Lead Data Science at the SIB Clinical Bioinformatics Group.
About Bio-Techne
Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ: TECH) is a global life sciences company providing innovative tools and bioactive reagents for the research and clinical diagnostic communities. Bio-Techne products assist scientific investigations into biological processes and the nature and progress of specific diseases. They aid in drug discovery efforts and provide the means for accurate clinical tests and diagnoses. With thousands of products in its portfolio, Bio-Techne generated approximately $1.1 billion in net sales in fiscal 2023 and has approximately 3,200 employees worldwide. For more information on Bio-Techne and its brands, please visit https://www.bio-techne.com or follow the Company on social media at: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or YouTube.
About the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics
SIB is an internationally recognized non-profit organization, dedicated to biological and biomedical data science. Our data scientists are passionate about creating knowledge and solving complex questions in many fields, from biodiversity and evolution to medicine. They provide essential databases and software platforms as well as bioinformatics expertise and services to academic, clinical, and industry groups. SIB federates the Swiss bioinformatics community of some 900 scientists, encouraging collaboration and knowledge sharing. The institute contributes to keeping Switzerland at the forefront of innovation by fostering progress in biological research and enhancing health.
For further information on Lunaphore contact:
Lindsey Rodger, Head of Communications
Email: communications@lunaphore.com
Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ: TECH)
David Clair, Vice President, Investor Relations & Corporate Development
david.clair@bio-techne.com
612–656–4416
