Benzinga | Aug 5, 2021 08:38AM EDT

Fluidigm Reports Co-Marketing Deal With Ultivue For Biomarker Imaging Solutions For Precision Medicine, No Terms Disclosed

Fluidigm Corporation (NASDAQ:FLDM), an innovative biotechnology tools provider with a vision to improve life through comprehensive health insight, today announced a co-marketing agreement with Ultivue, Inc., under which the companies will offer a comprehensive portfolio of solutions for biomarker discovery and drug development.



Ultivue, a leader in advancing precision medicine solutions by accelerating tissue biomarker discovery and validation, develops unique assays for use in multiplex immunofluorescence imaging and analysis. Its proprietary InSituPlex(r) technology is designed for fast and comprehensive exploration of biologically relevant markers combined with same-slide H&E analysis in precious tissue samples.

Fluidigm is a leader in high-parameter imaging for the clinical and translational research testing markets. Its Imaging Mass Cytometry(tm) (IMC(tm)) technology is designed for highly multiplexed targeted interrogation of tissue sections for 40 or more protein markers in one scan, with distinct non-overlapping signals from element-labeled antibodies detected simultaneously for each sub-micrometer pixel.

The collaboration provides researchers with end-to-end service capability for clinical and translational research work. For example, InSituPlex technology is well-suited to identify regions of interest that may require downstream, deep profiling with Imaging Mass Cytometry. Customer access to both technologies can improve the efficiency of drug discovery programs and, in translational research, enable patient stratification to triage cases that require further investigation.

"Ultivue is at the forefront of innovation to provide unique biological insights for our customers," said Mark Rees, Vice President of Corporate Development for Ultivue. "Our InSituPlex(r) technology offers valuable profiling of the tissue and expands the depth of information possible from a single section, and thus is complementary to the high-parameter capabilities of Imaging Mass Cytometry. We believe the joint offering with Fluidigm will provide researchers with a seamless workflow that enables a far more efficient biomarker discovery and drug development process."

Fluidigm is engaging in the agreement via its Therapeutic Insights Services (TIS) unit. Fluidigm TIS provides customers with sample-to-answer mass cytometry and IMC services for a broad range of research needs. The menu of TIS offerings includes consultation from experimental panel design to data analysis, custom antibody sourcing, conjugation and verification, staining for IMC with standard or custom panels, mass cytometry or IMC data acquisition and powerful data analysis tools.

"Imaging Mass Cytometry has become integral to the clinical and translational research testing markets," said Chris Linthwaite, Fluidigm President and CEO. "Through Fluidigm Therapeutic Insights Services, we will offer our customers access to our technology as well as that of Ultivue, providing optimum imaging solutions for biomarker discovery and drug development."

"Health care innovation is critical in developing new therapies as well as combating disease and new infectious threats to our global population. We are excited to partner with Ultivue to arm researchers with a broad array of tools to advance health care decision making."

Mass cytometry technologies, including CyTOF(r) , Imaging Mass Cytometry and Maxpar(r) Direct(tm), have been used in more than 160 clinical trials, including 10 utilizing Imaging Mass Cytometry.