Based on its recent analysis of the protein analysis market, Frost & Sullivan recognizes BioScale, Inc. with the North America Frost & Sullivan Award for New Product Innovation. BioScale has reduced the bottlenecks and limitations common in conventional protein analysis technologies by developing a fast, simple, ultra-sensitive, and flexible technology.
Its revolutionary ViBE platform is rapidly gaining traction among pharmaceutical companies and high-profile academic and government laboratories, and is proving to be a market-changing technology with a wide scope of applications.
BioScale's ViBE protein measurement technology platform provides highly-sensitive, robust, and reproducible protein detection and quantitation in a fully-automated walk-away instrument. The system is powered by the company's proprietary Acoustic Membrane MicroParticle (AMMP) technology, which combines magnetic microparticle analyte captured with microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) sensors for non-optical acoustic detection.
"BioScale's acoustic measurement system has many advantages over competing technologies, such as the ability to measure previously unmeasureable data such as quantitation of biomarkers in tumors, misfolded proteins, and heteromers. In addition, the ViBE's sensitivity levels have significant implications for biomarker discovery and detection for diagnostics and drug development," said Frost & Sullivan Senior Industry Analyst Christi Bird. "However, its biggest advantage is its scalability and ability to expand into a broad range of applications outside of protein analysis in the future."
Before developing its path-breaking product, BioScale identified the shortcomings of the existing protein techniques— artifacts due to optical techniques, slow sample preparation, tedious manual steps, difficult assay development, baseline noise and interference, inadequate sensitivity, high variability, and slow time-to-results. To solve these issues, BioScale focused on automating the process, simplifying assay development, and swapping optical detection for a non-optical, acoustic-based detection system.
Using a MEMS sensor for detection has allowed the company to enhance the sensitivity, miniaturization, direct measurement, and affordability of its protein analysis technology. This detection system replaces the bulky, indirect, and expensive optical detection that is traditionally used in proteomic laboratories. MEMS sensors also eliminate the issues of light scattering, quenching, and fluorescence interference typical of optical detection systems.
Meanwhile, the use of magnetic microparticles for capture reduces sample matrix interference and provides a rapid transport system from the cartridge cells to the sensor surface. It aids the analysis of specific proteins down to very low levels quickly, accurately, and affordably. Furthermore, as an open system, the ViBE platform allows researchers to use their own antibodies and reagents to develop sandwich assays, a convenient and economical feature.
"Frost & Sullivan's competitive benchmarking shows that the flexibility to meet the researcher's needs with many customizable components, such as assay strategy and format, flow rate, reagent usage, and adjusting incubation time versus sensitivity, is key to the success of the platform," noted Bird. "In addition, the technology's application can expand far beyond protein analysis, adding further value to the platform as new applications arise."
BioScale's AMMP technology can measure analytes in a large number of sample matrices, such as cell culture, whole blood, serum, plasma, urine, stool, and food, which provides clear future application potential in clinical diagnostics and food testing. In addition, the technology can measure many analyte types outside of protein, such as DNA, small molecules, whole cells, bacteria, viruses, and hormones. In the future, Frost & Sullivan expects BioScale's technology to be utilized in a wide range of applications in protein research, genomics, clinical diagnostics, biomarker discovery, and throughout the drug discovery pipeline.
Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the company that has developed an innovative element in a product by leveraging leading-edge technologies. The award recognizes the value-added features/benefits of the product and the increased ROI it offers customers, which, in turn, increases customer acquisition and overall market penetration potential.
Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry.
Source: http://www.frost.com/