Providing Better Tools, Better Research and Better Patient Outcomes

Multiplexed gene expression assays benefit research and diagnostics by addressing the multi-factorial nature of many disease and drug mechanisms. qNPA ArrayPlate multiplex gene expression improves the precision of data generated from cells, tissue, and fixed tissue (FFPE) samples by removing steps that are known to introduce experimental variation.

The qNPA ArrayPlate assay is performed in a flexible microplate format customized by the user to measure any set of 16 genes, the mini-microarray. The protocol is simple, robust, and reproducible in both day-to-day and lab-to-lab. HTG’s high throughput OMIX II Chemiluminescent Imager collects the data from an entire ArrayPlate in less than 2 minutes. The low cost per data point, reproducibility, and streamlined workflow of the qNPA protocol make it the ideal tool for analyzing gene expression.

Single-well multiplexing with qNPA enables the measurement of housekeeping genes in the same sample context, providing more reliable normalization than controls performed in separate wells. The ArrayPlate assay delivers average whole assay CVs of <10 percent, and reliable gene expression fold-changes of ~20 percent.

So why is this important…

The American healthcare system is facing a triple threat:

Rising healthcare costs – The US spent roughly $2.3 trillion on healthcare in 2007. That’s 16 percent of the nation’s GDP and healthcare premiums are rising faster than current wages.[1]

Quality and outcomes remain below our aspirations – A recent survey by the Commonwealth Fund and the journal of Modern Healthcare reported nine of 10 healthcare opinion leaders think fundamental change is required to achieve healthcare gains and productivity in the United States.[2]

The so called ‘Silver Tsunami’ of aging baby boomers will create tens of millions of people in the prime healthcare consuming years – The number of older adults in the US will nearly double between 2005 and 2030 as the 78 million member of the baby boomer generation begins turning 65 in 2011.[3] The perfect storm is upon us and the clock is ticking.

High Throughput Genomics (HTG) is playing its part to help solve some of the key issues researchers, drug companies and clinicians face as they try to stem the tide of the nation's healthcare challenges. Researchers are being bombarded with new data. Today, we have the ability to sequence whole genomes in a fraction of the time and cost which opens up new streams of information. To speed up the process and help researchers make decisions about their data, they need better tools. As a result: better, more efficient research creates better technologies and diagnostics for clinicians and patients. Better tools mean better research.

HTG’s objective is to make it easier for researchers to provide a new level of precision in quality of data outputs and help answer questions that are deemed ‘unanswerable’ today. When it costs hundreds of millions of dollars to develop a new drug, time is of the essence. Our mission is to provide time and cost saving technology that assists the advancement of research, drug discovery and development of better therapies, which ultimately improve patient care and quality of life. Better research means better results.

HTG is evolving legacy microarray technology, creating an entirely new level of precision gene expression measurement and a new category of multiplexed mini-microarrays ( the m 3 series) that meet the unmet needs in the middle of the market. The m 3 series is the first commercially available multiplex mini-microarrays that overcomes information overload and provides flexible multiplexing capability for drug discovery, biomarker and prognostic discovery and gene expression signatures in a 96 or 384 well mini-array format. We’re making drug discovery faster and more effective, playing our part to ensure doctors and patients have the solutions they need to improve healthcare in worldwide. Better results mean better patient outcomes.

References:
[1] Poisal, J.A., et al, Health Spending Projections Through 2016: Modest Changes Obscure Part D’s Impact. Health Affairs (21 February 2007): W242-253.
[2] Shea_HCOLorganizeddelivery_1122.pdf.
[3] HealthcareWorkforce_FS.pdf.

About Billie-Jo (BJ) Kerns, VP Strategic Marketing and Business Development
BJ has more than 27 years of Diagnostics experience, including launching VMSI’s first FDA approved companion diagnostic PATHWAY HER-2. She has an academic background in science and medicine, which augments her general management, sales, marketing, and business development skills and has published 60 scientific papers.