Bio-Rad Receives Frost & Sullivan 2012 North American Laboratory Researchers’ Choice: Future Market Leader of Digital PCR Technology Award

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. today announced that it has received the Frost & Sullivan 2012 North American Laboratory Researchers’ Choice: Future Market Leader of Digital PCR Technology Award, for its QX100™ Droplet Digital™ PCR system. This annual award is given to a company that has demonstrated excellence and distinguished itself through proactive strategies that position the company as an industry leader.

In a study titled 2012 Quantitative and Digital PCR Instrumentation and Consumables Purchasing Trends, the global growth consulting company Frost & Sullivan reported that 56% of healthcare-related laboratory decision makers in North America said they plan to install the QX100 Droplet Digital PCR system in their labs within the next 12 months. This product choice is significantly higher than for any other digital PCR system, positioning the QX100 system as a potential future leader in the digital PCR market segment.

The high sensitivity of digital PCR makes it ideal for a growing number of applications, including copy number variation, rare mutation detection, and absolute quantification of nucleic acid sequences,” said Frost & Sullivan research analyst Karolina Olszewska. “In this high-growth, promising market, we believe Bio-Rad’s investment in digital PCR will prove to be fruitful and they will be a future leader in this market segment.”

Droplet Digital PCR Shows Promise in Diagnostics and Personalized Medicine
Digital PCR is generating increasing attention in the industry for its potential in diagnostic and pharmaceutical applications. Researchers at Sangamo BioSciences have been using the QX100 system to develop therapies and potentially a cure for HIV.

The QX100 system allowed us to easily, accurately, and reproducibly measure low-copy events in genomic DNA,” said Dr. Gary Lee, senior scientist at Sangamo BioSciences. “We have been able to demonstrate that it is the technology of choice when it comes to rare event detection applications, particularly in clinical studies.”

Researchers in the Ji Laboratory at Stanford University have also observed the benefits of the QX100 system. This group uses the system to accurately and precisely measure cancer genome amplifications in archival cancer tissue samples. Their work targeting these amplified oncogenes could ultimately lead to personalized therapies for cancer treatment.

Frost & Sullivan expects the U.S. dPCR instrumentation market to grow 52% from 2011 to 2016. They believe the QX100 system will emerge as a leader in the digital PCR platform on the market due to the system’s precision, simple workflow, and affordability.

Bio-Rad will be honored with this recognition at Frost & Sullivan’s 2012 Excellence in Best Practices Awards Banquet on March 12. The event recognizes companies, strategies, processes, and executives that have achieved world-class performance within their industries.