Zyomyx Delivers First Protein Profiling Biochip(TM) Unit
HAYWARD, Calif., May 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Zyomyx, Inc. announced today the landmark delivery of its Protein Profiling Biochip(TM) system to its first "early access" collaborator -- Specialty Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: SP - News; Specialty).
"Shipping a system to a company for outside use is a significant milestone for Zyomyx and also for the protein chip industry," said Lawrence Cohen, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Zyomyx. "It is a major step in our commercialization of high throughput, multiplexed, protein analysis solutions that will enable Specialty, as well as future customers, to pursue the discovery and development of new products more rapidly and efficiently."
What distinguishes the delivery as a "first" in the industry, according to Cohen, is the comprehensive system package -- an assay workstation, a scanner, data analysis software, and internally validated biochips. The biochips come ready-to-use, fully loaded with specified capture antibodies, thus guaranteeing consistent sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of results in the hands of the user.
Cohen added that Specialty is the first of a number of bioscience companies slated for Zyomyx product shipment in 2002. "These companies all have expertise in areas of research which complement Zyomyx' interests and objectives," he said.
The shipment of the Protein Profiling Biochip(TM) system is part of a diagnostic discovery program announced between Zyomyx and Specialty on Feb. 26, 2002.
"Early access to the cutting-edge innovations of bioscience is a hallmark of Specialty Laboratories and supports our goal of providing the most advanced and clinically valuable patient testing. Our work with Zyomyx continues this important tradition as we look forward to employing their impressive protein chip platform within our own research and development programs on multi- analyte applications," said Douglas S. Harrington, M.D., interim chief executive officer of Specialty Laboratories.
Zyomyx and Specialty will also collaborate on the design of assay standards and controls, and Specialty will evaluate the suitability of the platform for its use in clinical laboratory testing.
Current understanding of the genome and the fact that drugs normally target proteins that genes encode, not the genes themselves, has spawned a new science called "proteomics" - the large-scale study of the vast, still undetermined number of proteins in the human body, and their constantly changing form and function. Until recently, the productivity of research was limited by tools that could examine only a small portion of proteins present in a sample at one time. Zyomyx' multiplexed, high-throughput system lifts the constraints on protein analysis, allowing scientists to engage in more productive and cost-effective protein research.
For more information about Zyomyx, visit www.zyomyx.com . |
