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Akoya Biosciences Launches Comprehensive Solution for High-Parameter Tissue Analysis

March 22, 2019 Off By BusinessWire

Commercial launch of CODEX^® System and Phenoptics^™
2.0 provide the most complete suite of tools for tissue biomarker
discovery and translation

Spatially resolved, multiplexed tissue imaging can unravel the
complexities of the tumor microenvironment

MENLO PARK, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Akoya Biosciences, Inc., today announced the full commercial release of
new products that together form the most complete solution for
high-parameter tissue imaging. These include the CODEX^®
System, an ultra-high multiplexing platform for tissue analysis and
biomarker discovery, and Phenoptics^™ 2.0, the company’s
next-generation biomarker multiplexing platform. The new platforms
provide scientists with a comprehensive end-to-end solution for
multiplexed immunofluorescence from discovery through clinical and
translational research. For a multimedia, interactive version of this
release including images, please click here.

The proprietary CODEX System, developed in the lab of Dr. Garry Nolan at
Stanford University and exclusively licensed to Akoya, includes a
fluidics-based instrument, reagents, and a software analysis suite. It
offers a cost-effective means to transform customers’ existing
fluorescence microscopes into ultra-high-parameter tissue imaging
systems. Users can simultaneously analyze more than 40 protein markers
for spatially resolved tissue characterization with single-cell
resolution, even in challenging samples such as highly auto-fluorescent
FFPE and fresh frozen samples. The system offers the flexibility to
design custom panels using a combination of Akoya-validated,
ready-to-use antibodies and customers’ antibodies of interest.

Upon receiving the first commercial CODEX system, Dr. Nolan commented:
“The commercial launch of CODEX is a proud milestone for my lab and an
exciting opportunity for biomedical sciences. The ability to
simultaneously and economically analyze dozens or more protein markers
on intact tissues will fundamentally change our understanding of
cellular interactions and disease biology.”

Akoya has also launched Phenoptics 2.0, the company’s first full product
release following its acquisition of the Phenoptics business unit from
PerkinElmer, Inc. (see press
release). Phenoptics 2.0 is powered by the latest advancements to
the Vectra^®Polaris^™ imaging system, Opal^™detection
reagents, and inForm^®analysis software. With this release,
the company is introducing its proprietary MOTiF^™ technology,
which acquires multispectral images on whole-slide tissue sections of up
to seven colors simultaneously, and 20 times faster than previously
possible. The ability to process up to 30 whole-slide images per day
makes this platform ideal for translational and clinical research
studies. In addition to MOTiF, Phenoptics 2.0 enables multispectral
analysis of up to nine colors in regions of interest for deeper
interrogation of tissue samples.

Bernard Fox, PhD, at the Robert W. Franz Cancer Research Center, Earle
A. Chiles Research Institute, Providence Cancer Center was one of the
first researchers to apply the MOTiF technology to his studies. “With
the advancement of so many new therapeutic options, it’s imperative that
we address the critical need for identifying the right biomarkers to
improve treatment outcomes for cancer patients,” he said. “The addition
of MOTiF technology to Phenoptics now provides us the right platform
that can help generate large-scale clinical trial data for the
validation of new biomarkers. Our experience with the implementation of
this technology makes me optimistic that we will soon have a solution to
better stratify patients for clinical trials and ultimately provide
tailored therapy that will result in improved patient outcomes.”

“Akoya is excited to bring unprecedented power, scale, and automation to
histology through the power of multiplex immunofluorescence,” said Brian
McKelligon, Chief Executive Officer of Akoya. “The commercial
availability of CODEX is a major achievement for Akoya and the release
of Phenoptics 2.0 underscores the successful and rapid integration of
the Phenoptics division from PerkinElmer into Akoya. We are proud to
establish our market leadership in high-parameter tissue analysis with
these transformative tools and to catalyze scientists’ ability to
identify predictive biomarkers.”

The company is hosting a webinar on Tuesday, April 30^th to
provide an overview of both the Phenoptics and CODEX technologies. To
register for the event, visit the registration page: Akoya Webinar
Series: Defining
the Future of Biomarker Analysis: From
Discovery to High Throughput Studies.

Akoya will also be featuring its complete solution at the upcoming
American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting in Atlanta from
March 31-April 3, including multiple poster presentations and a
workshop. More details are available at https://www.akoyabio.com/aacr2019.

About Akoya Biosciences

Akoya Biosciences is committed to developing powerful imaging tools to
enable scientists and clinical researchers gain a better understanding
of complex diseases such as cancer. The company offers the most
comprehensive end-to-end solution for high-parameter tissue analysis
from discovery through clinical and translational research, enabling
more precise therapies for immuno-oncology and other drug development
applications. Akoya’s CODEX platform enables the assessment of more than
40 markers and is ideally suited for biomarker discovery. The company’s
Phenoptics platform provides the assay robustness and throughput
necessary for translational and clinical research required in clinical
trials. For more information, please visit https://www.akoyabio.com/.