A multiplex menu

Bio-Rad and Myriad RBM partner to commercialize multiplex biomarker kits

Lloyd Dunlap
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HERCULES, Calif.—Bio-Rad LaboratoriesInc., a multinational manufacturer and distributor of life-scienceresearch and clinical diagnostic products, and Myriad RBM Inc., awholly owned subsidiary of Myriad Genetics Inc., will join forces todevelop and distribute high-quality immunoassay kits.

Under the terms of the agreement,Myriad RBM (the former Rules Based Medicine spun out from Luminex)grants Bio-Rad exclusive distribution rights, for research purposes,to what the companies believe is the largest catalog of quantitativemultiplexed immunoassays currently available to run on the Bio-Plex200, Bio-Plex 3D and Bio-Plex MAGPIX instruments. Myriad RBM retainsthe rights for all clinical and companion diagnostics uses, but maycollaborate with Bio-Rad in these areas down the road.

Myriad RBM's biomarker assays addressresearchers' needs for multiplex testing of samples with very lowvolumes when studying toxicology, oncology, immunology andcardiovascular and other diseases. The new assays expand Bio-Rad'scurrent suite of assays. Bio-Rad alsoprovides data reduction and analysis software.

"Together, we are able to addhundreds of new biomarkers for both human and non-human panels to ourBio-Plex multiplex immunoassay system menu," says Brad Crutchfield,Bio-Rad's Life Science Group vice president and group manager."Moving forward, Myriad RBM and Bio-Rad will collaborate to designnew products to meet the evolving requirements of our customers."

RBM, he notes, brings expertise on howpanels are put together and what the panels tell about the functionof the cell. The result is "better predictors of how the drug inquestion will work," he says.

Myriad RBM's MultiAnalyte Profiling (MAP) technology (based on Lumniex's xMAP technology) offers preclinical and clinicalresearchers broad, cost-effective analyses of multiple proteins froma single small sample volume. Myriad RBM's MAP technology alsosupports the development of companion diagnostics in areas of unmetmedical need within the fields of neurology, psychiatry, nephrology,endocrinology, oncology and immunology.

In addition to offering thebiggest menu of quantitative multiplexed immunoassay kits, RBM'sproprietary diluents, blockers and buffers improve assay performancein complex fluids such as serum and plasma, says Craig Benson,president of Myriad RBM.

"And our kits for the research marketare the only ones manufactured under cGMP," states Benson, who isone of four RBM executives that held senior positions at Luminexprior to moving over to RBM. "This agreement combines Myriad RBM'sindustry-leading menu of multiplexed immunoassays with Bio-Rad'sunrivaled global commercial distribution capabilities. Ourpartnership with Bio-Rad will help researchers and clinicians on thefront lines of medicine to develop biomarker profiles that maypredict, detect or monitor disease progression in an effort tooptimize treatment and improve patient care."

Dr. Sam Labrie, vice president ofcorporate development, notes that the relationship with Bio-Rad goesback a long way, with the RBM executives having partnered withBio-Rad during their stint at Luminex. Together, the two companiesform one of the most experienced service providers and distributionoutlets in terms of the Luminex platform. Currently, Bio-Rad servesmore than 100,000 research and industry customers worldwide throughits global network of operations. The company employs more than 7,100people and had revenues exceeding $2 billion in 2011.

With parent company Myriad Geneticsembroiled in a long and costly court battle contesting the validityof its BRCA genetic patents (see Government Watch section for anupdate), RBM's Benson is asked if he expected the outcome in thecourts to affect RBM in terms of any impact on forming newpartnerships.

"No," he responds, "but afavorable resolution can't hurt."


Lloyd Dunlap

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