Roche purchases tissue dissection technology, 2/15

February 2014—Roche Diagnostics has signed a definitive purchase agreement with AvanSci Bio for all products associated with the high-performance microdissection of slide-mounted tissue sections. The system consists of instrumentation, software, and consumables used by researchers and clinicians to extract specific areas of tissue with high precision and purity for subsequent molecular analysis including real-time PCR, microarrays, and sequencing.

AvanSci Bio’s patent-pending technology includes the automated MilliSect instrument, which targets a 100 mm2 to 100 µm2 level of resolution that AvanSci refers to as “meso” dissection range. The technology aims to be highly precise, easy to use, and affordable when compared with manual dissection methods and laser microdissection systems. The MilliSect system’s high specificity and quality enable a greater than 90 percent tumor-enriched sample for molecular analysis. The system will be tested at select customer sites in 2015 as part of a broader development program for a future generation instrument.

Roche Diagnostics, 800-428-5076