NanoString Technologies and Mayo Clinic Laboratories Enter Joint Development Agreement to Develop Novel Assays

SEATTLE and ROCHESTER, Minn., July 30, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — NanoString Technologies and Mayo Clinic Laboratories have announced a collaboration to develop clinical tests using NanoString’snew GeoMx Digital Spatial Profiler. GeoMx combines spatial and molecular profiling technologies by generating a whole tissue image at single cell resolution while also providing digital profiling data for tens to thousands of RNA or protein analytes for up to 16–20 tissue slides per day. This combination of spatial profiling enables researchers to rapidly assess the biological implications within tissue samples.

As part of the collaboration, the two organizations will use NanoString’s nCounter platform and the GeoMx Digital Spatial Profiler.  An initial cross-site study will use the GeoMx DSP technology to investigate the immune architecture of high-risk hormone receptor positive HER2-negative breast tumor samples to understand the biology of breast cancer. Understanding the biology is necessary to develop prognostic or predictive biomarkers and new therapies.  A second study will evaluate the use of NanoString’s fusion assays on the nCounter platform as a scalable and cost-effective alternative to conventional FISH assays in the study of leukemia.

“We are excited to have the opportunity to collaborate with Mayo Clinic Laboratories,” says Brad Gray, president and CEO of NanoString. “The combination of their expertise in translational research and our leading-edge technologies offers the chance to advance our understanding of the mechanism of disease to achieve better patient outcomes.”

“We look forward to this collaboration enabling us to ultimately understand complex disease states and develop new diagnostic tests that provide answers for our clients and patients,” says William Morice II, M.D., Ph.D., president of Mayo Clinic Laboratories and chair of Mayo’s Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology.

About NanoString Technologies, Inc.
NanoString Technologies is a leading provider of life science tools for translational research and molecular diagnostic products. The company’s nCounter® Analysis System is used in life sciences research and has been cited in more than 2,650 peer-reviewed publications. The nCounter Analysis System offers a cost-effective way to easily profile the expression of hundreds of genes, proteins, miRNAs, or copy number variations, simultaneously with high sensitivity and precision, facilitating a wide variety of basic research and translational medicine applications, including biomarker discovery and validation. The company’s GeoMx™ Digital Spatial Profiler enables highly-multiplexed spatial profiling of RNA and protein targets in a variety of sample types, including FFPE tissue sections.   The company’s technology is also being used in diagnostics. The Prosigna® Breast Cancer Prognostic Gene Signature Assay together with the nCounter Dx Analysis System is FDA 510(k) cleared for use as a prognostic indicator for distant recurrence of breast cancer.

For more information, please visit www.nanostring.com.

NanoString, NanoString Technologies, the NanoString logo, nCounter, GeoMx Digital Spatial Profilers, and Prosigna are trademarks or registered trademarks of NanoString Technologies, Inc. in various jurisdictions.

About Mayo Clinic Laboratories and the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology
The Mayo Clinic Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology and its reference laboratory Mayo Clinic Laboratories provide advanced laboratory testing and pathology services to support 4,000 health care organizations around the world. Revenue from this testing supports medical education and research at Mayo Clinic, a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research and education for people from all walks of life. Complemented by collaborations with diagnostic and biotechnology companies, the department maintains a robust diagnostic test-development program, launching more than 150 new tests each year.

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