WaferGen Biosystems, Inc. (OTC:WGBS) (BULLETIN BOARD: WGBS) , a leading developer of state-of-the-art genetic analysis systems, today announced that the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center demonstrated the utility of WaferGen's new proprietary SmartChip(TM) Nano-dispenser. The Nano-dispenser is used for loading samples and enzymes onto content-ready SmartChips for use with WaferGen's SmartChip(TM) Real-Time PCR System. The SmartChip Real-Time PCR System is designed to boost pathway-based gene discovery and exploration enabling researchers to discover new gene markers that could be missed using current microarray methods of discovery.
"The SmartChip Nano-dispenser enables the loading of a single sample into 5,184 nano-wells in a single step in approximately 20 minutes--at least three times faster than standard nano-dispensers," said Spencer Brown, Ph.D., Director of Plastic Surgery Research, Nancy Lee and Perry Bass of the Advanced Wound Healing Laboratory at UT Southwestern. "It is simple, easy to use, reliable, and cost-effective since we don't need to purchase elaborate and expensive equipment. Furthermore, its small footprint provides an added advantage of requiring less space. This contributes to our ability to use the SmartChip system to conduct gene expression research at a fraction of the time and cost of existing instrument systems."
"By demonstrating the utility of the SmartChip Nano-dispenser, UT Southwestern has provided additional verification of the role that the SmartChip system can play in decreasing research time and increasing the cost-efficiency of validating relevant gene expression biomarkers, and eventually assessing their impact on patient response to treatment," said Alnoor Shivji, Chairman and CEO, WaferGen. "This decrease in research time has broad economic implications for researchers discovering biomarkers and across the drug development industry, particularly for companies seeking ways to reduce time to market for their therapeutics or diagnostic products."
In January 2009, WaferGen and UT Southwestern established a collaboration under which UT Southwestern is conducting novel research projects using the SmartChip Real-Time PCR System in order to identify and validate gene expression biomarkers related to wound healing. Subsequent to this agreement, in March 2009, WaferGen and UT Southwestern established a novel wound healing research collaboration with IR BioSciences Holdings, Inc., a development-stage biotechnology company focused on the research, development and licensing of ImmuneRegen's wound healing drug candidate, Homspera®.