Benzinga | Mar 22, 2021 10:15AM EDT

NanoString Wins Technology Access Program Grant With Illumina Accelerator Startup, Doloromics

NanoString Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:NSTG), a leading provider of life science tools for discovery and translational research, today announced the company has awarded a Technology Access Program grant with Illumina Accelerator startup, Doloromics, focused on gaining a deeper understanding of chronic pain diseases by spatially characterizing the dorsal root ganglion (DRG). NanoString will partner with at least one startup from each global Illumina Accelerator funding cycle for a GeoMx(r) Digital Spatial Profiler (DSP) Technology Access Program grant.

The founders of Doloromics have significant experience in studying chronic pain in human peripheral nerves and have published extensively on the inadequacy of current mouse systems as well as biological differences in pain transmission and receptor expression that exist between men and women. Spatial profiling of the DRG from patient tissues with the Whole Transcriptome Atlas may be highly informative as it would allow a thorough understanding of the transcriptional expression within the DRG and could support discovery and validation of new targets. GeoMx DSP is uniquely positioned to advance this research because it is designed to read-out on Illumina sequencers, leveraging state-of-the-art next generation sequencing and the novel biological insights provided by innovative spatial profiling technology.

"This fantastic partnership will enable selected Illumina Accelerator startups to generate uniquely rich multi-omics datasets, which will combine spatial transcriptomics information using NanoString technology and dozens of terabases of high-quality Illumina sequencing data," said Amanda Cashin, co-founder and Global Head of Illumina for Startups.

"We're excited to collaborate with Doloromics and Illumina Accelerator to bring high-resolution spatial biology to the development of a new generation of pain therapeutics," said Brad Gray, president and chief executive officer of NanoString. "Spatial biology has become a powerful tool for discovering and validating biomarkers that may result in innovative new approaches to significant unmet medical needs."

"This collaboration with NanoString and Illumina Accelerator gives us a unique opportunity to gain deeper insight into the transcriptomes of human pain sensing neurons, called nociceptors, which will be a key component of the Doloromics pain drug and biomarker discovery platform," said Candler Paige, chief executive officer of Doloromics. "We are excited to dramatically expand our spatially-driven insight into fundamental pain mechanisms."

To learn more about NanoString's GeoMx Digital Spatial Profiler, please visit https://www.nanostring.com/products/geomx-digital-spatial-profiler/geomx-dsp.