Developing custom murine biomarker multiplexed immunoassays
Luminex Licensed Technologies Partners represent a diverse set of market segments, company sizes, and geographies. The versatility of xMAP® Technology has supported the launch of thousands of multiplexed immunoassays formatted into commercially available kits and testing services.
Laurie Stephen, President of Ampersand Biosciences, shares her journey with xMAP Technology and tips for starting a successful business as a scientist.
Tell us about your company.
Ampersand Biosciences was founded in the spring of 2015 as a spinout of Myriad RBM. We provide xMAP-based immunoassay development services and offer preclinical rodent cytokine analysis. The Ampersand team is comprised of eight scientists, and we are located in upstate New York. Several of us have over 15 years of experience in multiplexed immunoassay development! I believe our consultative approach and flexible service differentiates us from other providers.
Can you share an assay development tip with us?
Be especially careful of cross reaction with proteins in the same family. While protein interaction is quite common, it’s not readily apparent in singleplex assays, but it may be there.
Why do customers choose custom assay development?
I work mostly with preclinical scientists at pharmaceutical companies and universities. We develop assays and manufacture research use kits, as well as execute the experiments. This last option is great for groups that aren’t regularly performing multiplex immunoassays, as it’s quicker and more economical than getting internal team members up to speed. Our turnaround time is generally two to four months depending on the plex-level of a custom assay project.
In addition, scientists working with precious sample types often turn to us, because our custom assays use less sample volume than off-the-shelf kits due to greater miniaturization.
Tell me about starting your own business as a scientist.
I’d suggest going into a market that you know well. My first job was with Upstate Biotechnology, and I helped launch the first 5-plex commercial cytokine kit in 2000. With this history, I’m able to leverage my contacts and really understand the marketplace, which enables Ampersand to fill the gaps.
Why did you adopt xMAP Technology?
xMAP is a convenient platform and bead coupling is straightforward. For those unfamiliar with xMAP, there’s a lot of information available on how to multiplex so getting up to speed is relatively easy.
What are you working on now?
In addition to developing kits, we also have in-house protein expression capability, so we are developing antibodies that are available for direct purchase. We started this business line out of our personal need for more highly validated antibodies. We were frustrated by the limited number of vendors, due to corporate mergers and the fact that many antibodies don’t perform to specifications or are generally poor quality.
Are you interested in developing, manufacturing, and commercializing a multiplexed assay on a platform that is efficient, flexible, and widely-adopted? Contact Luminex Business Development to learn more.