Bio-Techne And Akoya Biosciences Partner To Deliver Automated Spatial Multiomics Workflow With Industry-Leading Speed And Resolution

Bio-Techne’s proven and established RNAScope® technology combined with Akoya’s powerful new PhenoCycler™-Fusion system will enable comprehensive spatial phenotyping of RNA and protein biomarkers

Bio-Techne  a global life sciences company providing innovative tools and bioactive reagents for the research and clinical diagnostic communities, and Akoya Biosciences, Inc., The Spatial Biology Company®, today announced a partnership to develop the first single-cell, spatial multiomics workflow for comprehensive, unbiased analysis of tissue samples.

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Through this agreement, the partners will bring to the market an automated, spatial multiomics workflow that can perform rapid, in situ analysis of multiple analytes, at single cell resolution, across whole slides. Akoya’s PhenoCycler-Fusion System, due to launch in early January 2022, will run the company’s well-established protein imaging assays in addition to automating Advanced Cell Diagnostics’, a Bio-Techne brand, proven and highly cited RNAScope HiPlex v2 assay for RNA imaging. The partnership exemplifies the commitment of both companies to offer researchers greater access to innovative and open access solutions for spatial biology applications.

RNA and protein expression offer complementary insights into cell states and phenotypes. Combining the PhenoCycler-Fusion workflow with the RNAScope HiPlex v2 assay has the potential to accelerate scientific understanding of human health and complex diseases like cancer. Spatial multiomics approaches can also unlock new biomarker diagnostic signatures, enabling better stratification of patients and ultimately improving treatment outcomes.

Backed by over 4,500 peer-reviewed publications, RNAScope Assays are an established standard for spatial RNA imaging. Under the terms of the agreement, Bio-Techne and Akoya will develop and co-market protocols to enable automated workflows for running RNAScope assays on Akoya’s spatial phenotyping systems.

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This new combined workflow complements Akoya’s spatial transcriptomics capabilities, currently under development, serving as an important validation tool for deep spatial phenotyping applications.

“We are excited to partner with Akoya to accelerate multiomic spatial phenotyping in translational and clinical disease research,” said Kim Kelderman, President of Bio-Techne’s Diagnostics and Genomics Segment. “Akoya’s established leadership in spatial phenotyping automation and multiplex protein biomarker imaging is uniquely complementary to Bio-Techne’s proven expertise in specific and sensitive multiplex RNA detection in cells and tissues. Enabling Akoya’s large and rapidly growing installed base with an automated HiPlex RNAScope workflow provides a uniquely powerful solution to advance discovery research and diagnostic assay development across a wide range of diseases.”

“The life sciences market has long needed an approach that provides an unbiased, multiomics view of tissue biology and architecture, which is critical for understanding complex mechanisms of disease and response to therapy,” said Brian McKelligon, Chief Executive Officer of Akoya Biosciences. “The partnership with Bio-Techne, which revolutionized RNA in situ hybridization methods, can further empower researchers with the spatial tools and technologies required to ignite innovation, and break barriers to advance discovery of new biomarkers and improve treatment options.”

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