A*STAR and Veredus Laboratories Create Market's First Lab-on-Chip for the Detection of Multiple Tropical Infectious Diseases
(Thomson Reuters ONE) -
Singapore, April 25, 2013 - The Agency for Science, Technology and Research
(A*STAR) and Veredus Laboratories, a leading supplier of innovative molecular
diagnostic tools, announced the launch of VereTrop(TM), the first biochip in the
molecular diagnostics market that can identify 13 different major tropical
diseases from a single blood sample.
With its high level of automation, this lab-on-chip diagnostic kit is poised to
transform the quality and efficiency of testing tropical infectious diseases,
including dengue fever, malaria, chikungunya, and hand, foot and mouth disease,
in the field.
The lead virologist in this project, Associate Professor Lisa F.P. Ng from
A*STAR's Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN) said, "Tropical diseases often
reflect common symptoms like fever, and may not be accurately diagnosed early by
doctors. This portable test kit is a rapid and reliable method to accurately
test for multiple pathogenic targets from just one blood sample in a matter of
hours."
Together with Prof Laurent Renia, an expert in Malaria Immunobiology at SIgN,
the team from SIgN has successfully validated the kit on patient samples in the
external fields of Northern Thailand, at the Thai-Myanmar border.
Professor François H Nosten, the clinical collaborator at the Oxford Clinical
Unit in Mae Sot and Director of the Shoklo Malaria Research Unit said, "This
technology opens new possibilities for the accurate and rapid diagnostic of
important infectious diseases that remain the main causes of illness in the
tropics. Its versatility and ease of use will change the approach to diagnostics
at the periphery of health care system."
Developed with infectious disease expertise from A*STAR's SIgN, this biochip,
which operates on STMicroelectronics' Lab-on-Chip platform, was initiated
between ETPL, the technology transfer arm of A*STAR, and Veredus in 2009[1].
Prior to this, Veredus had licensed diagnostic technology from A*STAR in the
areas of influenza and malaria[2].
"Veredus and A*STAR have worked on several collaborative projects dating back to
2004," said Dr. Rosemary Tan, CEO of Veredus Laboratories, a Singapore-based,
majority owned subsidiary of STMicroelectronics. "This latest project on
VereTrop Lab-on-Chip has combined the strengths and expertise of A*STAR,
Veredus, and STMicroelectronics to create a powerful multiplexed molecular
product that can rapidly detect and differentiate symptomatically similar
tropical infectious diseases and enable timely proper treatment."
"After this journey of more than three years, we are glad that such a compelling
technologically-advanced product with global healthcare benefits is ready to be
launched to the market. Veredus is a good example of how local companies can
work with A*STAR for a consistent stream of technology to develop products that
can enhance their offerings and level them up to be competitive and relevant
globally," said Philip Lim, Chief Executive Officer of ETPL.
Enclosed:
Annex A - List of tropical diseases that can be detected by VereTrop(TM)
For media queries, please contact:
Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)
Dr. Sarah Chang
Tel: (65) 6826 6442
Email: chang_kai_chen(at)a-star.edu.sg
ETPL (A*STAR's Technology Transfer arm)
Ms. Amanda Lee
DID: (65) 6478 8443
Email: amanda_lee(at)etpl.sg
Veredus Laboratories
Mr. Boey Taik Boon
Corporate External Communications
STMicroelectronics Asia-Pacific
Tel: +65 6427 7765
Email: taik-boon.boey(at)st.com
About the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)
The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) is Singapore's lead
public sector agency that fosters world-class scientific research and talent to
drive economic growth and transform Singapore into a vibrant knowledge-based and
innovation driven economy.
In line with its mission-oriented mandate, A*STAR spearheads research and
development in fields that are essential to growing Singapore's manufacturing
sector and catalysing new growth industries. A*STAR supports these economic
clusters by providing intellectual, human and industrial capital to its partners
in industry.
A*STAR oversees 20 biomedical sciences and physical sciences and engineering
research entities, located in Biopolis and Fusionopolis as well as their
vicinity. These two R&D hubs house a bustling and diverse community of local and
international research scientists and engineers from A*STAR's research entities
as well as a growing number of corporate laboratories. For more information
about A*STAR, please visit www.a-star.edu.sg
About ETPL
ETPL is the technology transfer arm of the Agency for Science, Technology and
Research (A*STAR), Singapore's lead agency for fostering world-class scientific
research and talent. A*STAR oversees 14 biomedical sciences, physical sciences
and engineering research institutes, and six consortia and centres. As a one-
stop resource, ETPL supports A*STAR in transforming the economy through driving
innovation and commercializing its research outcomes.
Also known as Exploit Technologies Pte Ltd, ETPL enhances the research output of
A*STAR scientists by translating their inventions into marketable products or
processes. Through shaping and facilitating licensing deals and spin-offs, ETPL
actively engages industry leaders and players to commercialise A*STAR's
technologies and apply them to building ecosystems that benefit business,
industry and economy. For more information, please visit http://etpl.sg
About Veredus Laboratories Pte Ltd
Veredus Laboratories Pte Ltd was founded in 2003 and launched its first products
in 2005. Veredus is a Singapore-based majority-owned subsidiary of
STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), a global semiconductor leader serving customers
across the spectrum of electronics applications.
Veredus specializes in the development, manufacture, and marketing of innovative
multiplexed molecular solutions in the clinical, specialty, and custom testing
markets based on STMicroelectronics' proprietary Lab-on-Chip platform. The Lab-
on-Chip platform, marketed as the VerePLEX(TM) Biosystem, combines Micro-
Electro-Mechanical-Systems (MEMS) with micro-fluidics to integrate multiplexed
DNA amplification with microarray detection for rapid, cost-effective, and
accurate analysis of biological materials.
Further information on Veredus can be found at www.vereduslabs.com.
About STMicroelectronics
ST is a global leader in the semiconductor market serving customers across the
spectrum of sense and power and automotive products and embedded processing
solutions. From energy management and savings to trust and data security, from
healthcare and wellness to smart consumer devices, in the home, car and office,
at work and at play, ST is found everywhere microelectronics make a positive and
innovative contribution to people's life. By getting more from technology to get
more from life, ST stands for life.augmented.
In 2012, the Company's net revenues were $8.49 billion. Further information on
ST can be found at www.st.com.
ANNEX A
List of 13 Tropical Diseases and corresponding sub-species detected by
VereTrop(TM)
+---------+--------------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
|To detect| Disease |To discriminate| Subspecies |
+---------+--------------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
| | African | |Trypanosoma.brucei rhodensiense|
| | trypanosomiasis | 1 | (T.Br)/ Trypanosoma.brucei |
| |(Sleeping Sickness) | | gambiense (T.Bg) |
| 1 +--------------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
| | Human American | | |
| | trypanosomiasis | 2 |Trypanosoma.cruzi cruzi (T.Cc) |
| | (Chagas disease) | | |
+---------+--------------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
| | | 3 | Plasmodium falciparum (P.fal) |
| | +---------------+-------------------------------+
| | | 4 | Plasmodium vivax (P.viv) |
| | +---------------+-------------------------------+
| 2 | Malaria | 5 | Plasmodium ovale (P.O) |
| | +---------------+-------------------------------+
| | | 6 | Plasmodium malariae (P.m) |
| | +---------------+-------------------------------+
| | | 7 | Plasmodium knowlesi (P.kn) |
+---------+--------------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
| 3 | Typhoid Fever | 8 | Salmonella typhi (ST) |
+---------+--------------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
| | | | Leptospira.interrogans |
| | | +-------------------------------+
| | | | Leptospira.borgpetersenenii |
| | | +-------------------------------+
| | | | Leptospira.weilii |
| | Leptospirosis | +-------------------------------+
| 4 | (Weil's syndrome) | 9 | Leptospira.santorosai |
| | | +-------------------------------+
| | | | Leptospira.alexanderi |
| | | +-------------------------------+
| | | | Leptospira.noguchii |
| | | +-------------------------------+
| | | | Leptospira. kirschneri |
+---------+--------------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
| 5 | Melioidosis | 10 |Burkholderia pseudomallei (BP) |
+---------+--------------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
| 6 | Chikungunya Fever | 11 | Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) |
+---------+--------------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
| | | 12 | Dengue serotype 1 virus (DENV |
| | | | 1) |
| | +---------------+-------------------------------+
| | | 13 | Dengue serotype 2 virus (DENV |
| | | | 2) |
| 7 | Dengue Fever +---------------+-------------------------------+
| | | 14 | Dengue serotype 3 virus (DENV |
| | | | 3) |
| | +---------------+-------------------------------+
| | | 15 | Dengue serotype 4 virus (DENV |
| | | | 4) |
+---------+--------------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
| 8 | West Nile | 16 | West Nile Virus (WNV) |
+---------+--------------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
| 9 | Yellow Fever | 17 | Yellow Fever Virus (YFV) |
+---------+--------------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
| 10 | Japanese | 18 | Japanese Encephalitis Virus |
| | Encephalitis | | (JEV) |
+---------+--------------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
| 11 | Rift Valley Fever | 19 | Rift Valley Virus (RVV) |
+---------+--------------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
| 12 |Hand, foot and mouth| 20 | Human enterovirus A EV-71 |
| | disease (HFMD) | | (EV71) |
+---------+--------------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
| | | 21 | Puumala virus (PUUV) |
| | +---------------+-------------------------------+
| | | 22 | Tula virus (TULV) |
| | Hemorrhagic fever +---------------+-------------------------------+
| |with renal syndrome | 23 | Dobrava-Belgrade virus (DOBV) |
| | (HFRS) +---------------+-------------------------------+
| 13 | | 24 | Seoul virus (SEOV) |
| | +---------------+-------------------------------+
| | | 25 | Hantaan virus (HTNV) |
| +--------------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
| | Hantavirus | | |
| | Cardiopulmonary | 26 | Andes virus (ANDV) |
| | Syndrome (HCPS or | | |
| | HPS) | | |
+---------+--------------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] ETPL funded the project from the onset - designing the sequence probes,
developing and validating the chip, up to acquiring samples for clinical
validation.
[2] http://www.a-
star.edu.sg/Media/News/PressReleases/tabid/828/articleType/ArticleView/articleId
/91/Default.aspx
VereTrop PR:
http://hugin.info/152740/R/1696162/558515.pdf
VereTrop PR_IMAGE:
http://hugin.info/152740/R/1696162/558517.jpg
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Source: STMicroelectronics via Thomson Reuters ONE
[HUG#1696162]
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Datum: 25.04.2013 - 08:01 Uhr
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