Ventana Medical Systems Inc and Advanced Cell Diagnostics Inc (ACD), have entered a worldwide co-promotion agreement for the first commercially available, fully automated RNA in situ hybridization (ISH) assay system capable of robust detection and visualization of virtually any expressed gene in routine clinical specimens at single-molecule sensitivity.

The two companies have partnered to automate this assay system on the VENTANA DISCOVERY series slide staining platforms. The product offerings are expected to become commercially available in the first quarter of 2012 and will initially be offered for research-use only (RUO) applications.

The RNAscope® FFPE Reagent Systems automated on the VENTANA DISCOVERY ULTRA and DISCOVERY XT offers researchers a powerful tool with unprecedented levels of performance.

RNA in situ hybridization is an indispensable method to analyze gene expression in the context of tissue architecture in areas of oncology, virology, and neuroscience research. RNAscope provides researchers the capability to interrogate the function and disease relevance of any expressed genes in situ, especially for the approximately 5,000 genes and 15,000 non-coding RNAs in the human genome where no other technologies can adequately address. In addition, RNAscope allows researchers to tap into the estimated 400 million clinically-annotated, archived formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue specimens for retrospective clinical studies in translational research.

The DISCOVERY XT and DISCOVERY ULTRA systems provide scientists and research professionals who require more than conventional IHC and ISH research methods with an array of fully automated applications, which improve flexibility and freedom and provide the necessary, reproducible results that optimize patient care.

Source: Ventana Medical Systems Inc