NEW YORK – Bio-Techne and Uman Diagnostics, a subsidiary of Quanterix, today announced a strategic license and supply agreement for antibodies used in the quantification of neurofilament light (Nf-L) on Bio-Techne's Ella immunoassay platform.
Under the terms of the agreement, Umeå, Sweden-based Uman will supply Nf-L antibodies for use in Minneapolis-based Bio-Techne's Simple Plex immunoassays running on Ella, the firms said.
Financial and other terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Nf-L is a biomarker being explored for detecting neuromuscular and neurodegenerative diseases. Detecting Nf-L in serum and plasma samples is challenging as the marker is present at low picogram levels. The Ella platform provides the sensitivity needed to provide quantitative analysis of Nf-L in serum and plasma, allowing researchers access to information in a relatively noninvasive sample type, the firms said.
Dave Eansor, president of Bio-Techne's Protein Sciences business segment, said in a statement that the "sensitivity and automation of the Ella platform have been successfully utilized in the oncology and inflammation research spaces. This partnership helps bring Ella to the forefront of neuroscience research as well."
Uman has a focus on early diagnosis of traumatic and degenerative diseases of the brain with its Nf-L antibodies and ELISA kits. Bio-Techne's Ella platform allows users to perform immunoassay testing in 90 minutes with no manual intervention and enables companies to decrease the iteration time of their research, the firms said.