Labcyte and FIMM Announce a Collaboration Enabling “Real-Time” Science to Advance Personalized Medicine in Cancer Treatments

SUNNYVALE, Calif. & HELSINKI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Labcyte Inc. and the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM) are collaborating to further the development of personalized medicine in cancer treatment. Labcyte acoustic liquid handling technology has already revolutionized small-molecule research. Now, FIMM, a European leader in advanced research for new cancer therapies, will apply the technology extensively in its personalized medicine programs.

“Larger trials with samples from acute myeloid leukemia patients who have relapsed under standard treatment may quickly suggest individualized treatment options using existing cancer drugs”

“FIMM’s groundbreaking use of acoustic liquid handling will demonstrate the technology’s role in genetic research,” said Mark Fischer-Colbrie, CEO of Labcyte. “FIMM has successfully used Labcyte acoustic liquid handling technology to generate better data and drive down costs in small-molecule screening for the past three years. This collaboration with such a well-regarded institute will facilitate breakthroughs in personalized medicine.”

FIMM uses large sample sets with links to detailed patient records and genetic data to discover personalized treatment options at a faster pace.

“We see an enormous potential in expanding our use of Labcyte acoustic dispensing technology to help discover specialized leukemia treatments,” said Professor Olli Kallioniemi, director of FIMM. “This research is based on high-throughput drug sensitivity and resistance testing of leukemic cells taken from patients. This new initiative will bring us closer to the clinic and closer to patients.”

“Our aim is to find alternate treatment options for patients who simultaneously undergo treatment in the clinic,” said Kallioniemi. “We will be doing real-time science, using new scientific insights and technologies to help patients who have failed standard leukemia treatments.”

Increasing its throughput enables FIMM to do more rapid and more efficient testing. Researchers at the Institute hope to learn how leukemia cells ex-vivo respond to various types of drugs, and what the resistance mechanisms are. “Larger trials with samples from acute myeloid leukemia patients who have relapsed under standard treatment may quickly suggest individualized treatment options using existing cancer drugs,” added Kallioniemi. “We’re not saying we can cure leukemia, but for patients who have run out of options, alternative treatments may be available sooner.”

By working with FIMM to utilize acoustic liquid handling in genetics research, Labcyte will continue to expand the application of its technology in bio-marker discovery, single-cell analysis, RT-qPCR, genotyping, siRNA screening, and bio-banking.

“We are excited to be an enabling platform for improving patient care with FIMM,” said Fischer-Colbrie. “It will continue to demonstrate how acoustic liquid handling enhances life science research.”

“This research may be changing the way new and emerging drugs are introduced for patients—it is truly game-changing,” said Kallioniemi. “Labcyte technology is a key enabling platform for this drug-sensitivity testing.”

About Labcyte: Labcyte, a global biotechnology tools company headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, is revolutionizing liquid handling. Echo^® liquid handling systems use sound to precisely transfer liquids without contact, eliminating the use of pipettes. Labcyte instruments are used worldwide throughout the pharmaceutical industry, as well as by biotechnology firms, contract research organizations, and academic institutions. Our customers work across a wide spectrum of scientific research, including drug discovery, genomics, proteomics, diagnostics, personalized medicine, and imaging mass spectrometry. Labcyte has 62 global patents, along with additional filings. For more information, visit www.labcyte.com.

About FIMM: Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM) is an international research institute in Helsinki focusing on human genomics and personalized medicine. FIMM is hosted by the University of Helsinki and is part of the Nordic EMBL Partnership in Molecular Medicine. FIMM integrates molecular medicine research, technology center and biobanking infrastructures “under one roof” and thereby promotes translational research and adoption of personalized medicine in health care. FIMM researchers are involved in studying the medical impact of genome information from the Finnish population, development of individualized cancer medicine, as well as novel image-based molecular diagnostics. FIMM technology centre and biobanking infrastructures provide research services for local, national and international customers. The infrastructures operated by FIMM are networked with European ESFRI infrastructures BBMRI, EATRIS, ELIXIR and EU OPENSCREEN. In 2012, FIMM had a staff of 185 and an annual budget of 14 million Euros, with competitive external funding accounting for 70% of the budget. For more information, visit www.fimm.fi/en/.