Ultrasensitive, Multiplexed Diagnostics

RCAT^TM technology has significant advantages for the rapidly growing molecular diagnostic market as well as the larger, more established market for immunodiagnostic tests.

Unmet Needs Addressed

New technologies are required that enable:

• Earlier detection of disease
• The potential to cut costs by reductions in labor, lower repeat volumes, and consolidation of tests on fewer testing platforms
• Improvements in turnaround times, convenience, and portability
• New proprietary tests for improved profitability
• An ability to address new markets such as pharmacogenomic testing
  

Applications of RCAT technology address many of these needs by offering significantly enhanced capabilities, such as:

• Measurement of multiple analytes simultaneously (multiplexing)
• Unprecedented sensitivity
  
• Improved dynamic range
  
• Cost reduction
  

Simultaneous Analysis of Multiple Analytes

Many disease states require panels of different tests to be conducted simultaneously (multiplexing) to achieve a clinically complete picture. To date, efforts to multiplex tests have been constrained by issues of background noise or interference, or the requirement for extremely sensitive methods of analyte detection.

One of the unique features of RCAT is that during the amplification process the signal remains tethered to the analyte of interest. This effectively enables multiplexing capabilities with unprecedented sensitivity and specificity.

Current applications of RCAT technology have been developed in a multiplexing format enabling greater than 100 different proteins to be measured simultaneously with significantly greater sensitivity than other current methods.

Unprecedented Sensitivity

There are numerous examples where important biological markers for cancer, infectious disease, or metabolic processes are present in body fluids at too low a concentration to be detected using conventional immunoassays.

Using RCAT, Molecular Staging Inc. has demonstrated significant increases in sensitivity over conventional protein assay methods. Enhanced sensitivity enables today's laboratory to significantly improve assays where increased sensitivity enhances clinical utility.

Wide Dynamic Range

Differentiating disease states requires that several analytes be measured across a wide dynamic range in order to accurately quantitate very low and very high concentrations. RCAT-based assays routinely exhibit significant improvements over the 2-3 logs inherent in current methods. This advantage reduces the need for repeat testing.

Lower Cost

RCAT offers considerable potential for cost savings:

• Reduced labor through workstation consolidation, a facet of the unique utility of the technology across DNA, RNA, and proteins
• Reduced consumption of expensive reagents, such as monoclonal antibodies
• No need for expensive custom equipment; RCAT is applicable to most installed instrument platforms
• Economies of scale realized through multiplexing capabilities
• Repeat testing reduced via expanded dynamic range
  

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