NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Ventana Medical Systems has entered into a worldwide co-promotion agreement with Advanced Cell Diagnostics for a fully automated RNA in situ hybridization assay system.
The alliance automates ACD's RNAscope reagent system on Ventana's Discovery series slide staining platforms. According to Ventana, a member of the Roche Group, the system will be the first fully automated RNA in situ hybridization system "capable of robust detection and visualization of virtually any expressed gene in routine specimens at single-molecule sensitivity."
The partners expect to launch the first products from the alliance in the first quarter of 2012. The firms will initially offer the products for research use only.
Bill Crawford, director of marketing for the Discovery products for Ventana, said in a statement that the combination of the firm's technologies would deliver a "powerful solution for biomarker discovery and validation. …It has significant potential to advance cell- and tissue-based biomarker analyses for future clinical and companion diagnostics development."
Financial and other terms of the alliance were not disclosed.