South San Francisco, California
November 4, 2008
EP1 system can achieve more
than 200,000 genotypes per day
Fluidigm Corporation today introduced its EP1 system for
high-throughput SNP genotyping and digital PCR*. The EP1 system
combines the efficiencies of integrated fluidic circuit
(IFC)-based genotyping in a desktop-sized configuration, with a
very affordable system price.
The EP1 system, with Fluidigm Dynamic Arrays, provides superior
data quality, a fast and easy workflow, and significant cost
savings for SNP genotyping studies. The EP1 system delivers the
highest quality SNP genotyping results on the market with better
than 99 percent call rates and 99.75 percent or greater
accuracy. All of this is achieved with an easy-to-use,
high-throughput workflow that can provide up to 9,216 data
points per IFC chip with results in just four hours. The EP1
system, which includes the IFC Controller, Stand Alone Thermal
Cycler and End Point Reader, provides over 27,000 genotypes a
day. By adding more IFC controllers and thermal cyclers to be
used in conjunction with a single EP1 Reader, laboratories can
generate more than 200,000 genotypes in a day.
The EP1 system can also perform digital PCR, such as for copy
number variation analysis. Fluidigm is the only company today
offering a commercially available digital PCR system. Using a
Fluidigm Digital Array -- an IFC designed specifically for
digital PCR -- the EP1 system provides the highest sensitivity
and fastest workflow available for researchers studying copy
number variation. The system can easily distinguish between four
and five copies and provide results in just a few hours while
requiring only minutes of hands-on time.
“Fluidigm’s EP1 system provides the power of IFC technology, the
system flexibility to provide true, high-throughput genotyping,
the ability to perform digital PCR and a cost-effective system
price,” said Gajus Worthington, Fluidigm President and Chief
Executive Officer. “Customers will benefit from the lowest
running costs for TaqMan-based SNP genotyping because of the
tiny reagent volumes required by integrated fluidic circuit
technology and they can complete their work – from start to
finish -- in less than four hours.”
Fluidigm develops, manufactures and markets proprietary
Integrated Fluidic Circuit (IFC) systems that significantly
improve productivity in life science research. Fluidigm’s IFCs
enable the simultaneous performance of thousands of
sophisticated biochemical measurements in extremely minute
volumes. These “integrated circuits for biology” are made
possible by miniaturizing and integrating liquid handling
components on a single microfabricated device. Fluidigm’s IFC
systems, consisting of instrumentation, software and single-use
IFCs, increase throughput, decrease costs and enhance
sensitivity compared to conventional laboratory systems.
Fluidigm products have not been cleared or approved by the Food
and Drug Administration for use as a diagnostic and are only
available for research use.
* Digital PCR is a technique to quantify the amount of DNA in a
sample by counting amplifications from single molecules.
Fluidigm is the industry leader in providing digital PCR to the
commercial market.
Fluidigm, the Fluidigm logo, Topaz, BioMark, and NanoFlex are
trademarks of Fluidigm Corporation. |
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