Leica Biosystems has partnered with Molecular Instruments (MI) to integrate its imaging assay with Leica’s BOND series of research staining systems.
MI’s Highly sensitive Chromogenic RNA in situ Hybridization (HCR Pro RNA-ISH) is an assay used for fluorescent imaging of RNA targets in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue samples.
By integrating the Los Angeles-based company’s assay with the BOND RX and BOND RXm research staining systems, Leica said it will be able to simultaneously detect RNA and protein targets on the same tissue, meaning researchers will be able to extract more insights into how cancer develops and progresses from a single sample.
Karan Arora, senior vice-president of advanced assays and pharma services at Leica Biosystems said: “We are thrilled to introduce this important addition to our portfolio of partner assays, further solidifying BOND RX as a leader in research staining automation.
“This collaboration with Molecular Instruments is a pivotal step in making this innovative technology more accessible and scalable for cancer research. By combining innovation and automation, we empower researchers with a powerful platform to unlock deeper insights into RNA expression and advance our understanding of cancer biology.”
Last year, MI also partnered with Biocare Medical to integrate HCR Pro RNA-ISH with the company’s ONCORE Pro X slide stainer, and New Mexico-based digital pathologist Indica Labs to co-market compatibility between HCR and Indica’s HALO software.
MI chief commercial officer Dr Aneesh Acharya commented: “Users have rapidly adopted HCR Pro kits on their instruments already, but we expect to accelerate that pace through close collaboration with the fantastic team at Leica Biosystems to support the seamless transition from legacy technologies to HCR Pro RNA-ISH.”
In May 2024, a UK court dismissed two patent infringement claims brought against MI by Advanced Cell Diagnostics and ordered the California-based company to pay around $1.72m in remuneration to MI.
In other assay news, Illumina recently stated plans to expand its TruSight Oncology portfolio with the introduction of the TruSight Oncology 500 v2 (TSO 500 v2), a new version of its flagship next-generation sequencing (NGS) cancer assay for comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) of solid tumours.
