New Products

Copenhagen-based firm Clinical Microbiomics this week introduced the Clinical Microbiomics Human Microbiome Profiler 2.0 (CHAMP), which was built using the company's database of more than 400,000 metagenome assembled genomes collected across nine body sites including the gut, vagina, skin, and mouth. The profiling tool uses the company's proprietary algorithm calibrated across thousands od analyzed samples. In internal benchmarking experiments, CHAMP outperformed MetaPhlAn4 with a 16 percent increase in sensitivity across various human body sites, the company said. It also showed a 400-fold lower false detection signal compared to competing profilers such as MetaPhlAn4, Centrifuge, Kraken, and Bracken, the firm said

DNAstack, a Toronto-based bioinformatics firm, has launched Omics AI software for omics and health research. Omics AI is a suite of three software products for creating standards-compliant federated networks and running analyses across them. The "Publisher" component helps maximize the impact of data "wherever it lives," the company said, making it easy to connect, organize, manage access, standardize, and register datasets with networks powered by the "Explorer" component. Explorer is a federated data portal that provides a unified user experience for finding, accessing, and searching across federated networks, and analyzing them with tools like the third component, "Workbench," which enables scientists to run analyses across distributed datasets. This includes the ability to perform federated learning with toolkits like integrate.ai, which train AI/ML models without moving sensitive data between systems. The end-to-end software suite is compliant with GA4GH standards with support for multiple cloud platforms, Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, and Google Cloud, as well as on premises, DNAstack said.

Integra Biosciences has launched the Miro Canvas digital microfluidics platform for fully automated next-generation sequencing sample preparation. The system uses gentle sample handling to maintain the integrity of high molecular weight DNA and minimizes reagent usage for long-read sequencing library preparation. Miro Canvas can also automate exome and other hybrid capture protocols, and requires only 15 minutes of hands on time per run, the company said. The platform was originally developed by Miroculus, which Integra acquired earlier this year.

Bruker has released its TIMSquant software for quantitation of peptides and proteins on its timsTOF mass spectrometers. The software uses retention time and collision cross-section-based predictions to improve proteomic analyses.

PhenomeX has launched its Meteor chips for the IsoSpark proteomics platform. With less than 30 minutes of hands-on time and a single pipette for sample loading, the Meteor chip eliminates the need for the laborious proteomics workflow of traditional proteomic methods, PhenomeX said. A single full run (four chips) accommodates 80 sample wells in triplicate. The chip will be launched with an initial 10-plex panel, capable of generating 2,400 data points per run, the company added.

10x Genomics has launched its Feature Barcode Multiplexing Kit to expand the capabilities of its Chromium Single-Cell Gene Expression Flex assay to include high-throughput multiomic cellular profiling. The new kit enables streamlined, multiomic characterization of cell populations so that researchers can expand their options at a larger scale and detect simultaneous gene and protein expression, 10x said.

NanoString Technologies has launched the GeoMx Immuno-oncology Proteome Atlas Panel. The panel, which contains IHC-compatible antibodies from Abcam's immuno-oncology portfolio, enables spatial profiling of more than 500 immuno-oncology relevant targets from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue samples.

Baylor Genetics has launched its Neurodevelopmental Disorders Panel for patients with suspected or clinically diagnosed autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, or developmental delay. The next-generation sequencing-based panel analyzes a set of 236 genes on an exome carvout and detects nucleotide variants, insertions and deletions, and copy number variants at "exceptional read depths," the laboratory said. 

Foundation Medicine has launched a new research use and investigational use version of FoundationOneRNA, a tissue-based RNA sequencing test that detects fusions in 318 genes. The company said it uses an extraction method whereby DNA and RNA can be isolated from a single formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded sample to minimize sample volume requirements and help researchers preserve limited tissue samples in clinical studies. The assay also has expanded capabilities to offer gene expression reporting of over 1,500 genes to support biomarker discovery. Foundation Medicine said it is developing a clinical-use version of the test with an anticipated launch in 2024.

Angle said this week that it has launched the Portrait Flex CTC assay as a service provided by its Onc-ADaPT GCP-compliant laboratories. The Flex test uses immunofluorescence staining for epithelial, mesenchymal, blood lineage, and nuclear markers on cells isolated with its Parsortix system, with the opportunity to include additional biomarkers tailored to customer needs. Angle claims an analytical sensitivity of more than 93 percent and an analytical specificity of over 95 percent for both epithelial and mesenchymal markers.