Cancer diagnostics company Leica Biosystems and Molecular Instruments (MI), the inventor of the hybridisation chain reaction (HCR) Imaging technology, have partnered for integrated RNA in situ hybridisation (RNA-ISH) technology.
This collaboration combines HCR Imaging technology with BOND RX and BOND RXm research staining systems.
The long-term partnership will combine HCR Pro RNA-ISH with BOND immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence. This enables simultaneous RNA and protein target detection on the same tissue, providing more spatial insights while preserving valuable samples.
In November last year, Molecular Instruments collaborated with Visiopharm to combine artificial intelligence (AI)-driven precision pathology with HCR Pro assays to advance clinical-grade RNA-ISH.
Molecular Instruments chief commercial officer Aneesh Acharya said: “We’re incredibly excited about the impact of this partnership and the next-gen workflows HCR Pro enables for BOND RX and RXm users.
“Users have rapidly adopted HCR Pro kits on their instruments already, but we expect to accelerate that pace through close collaboration with the fantastic team at Leica Biosystems to support the seamless transition from legacy technologies to HCR Pro RNA-ISH.”
HCR Pro RNA-ISH is designed for brightfield and fluorescent imaging of RNA targets in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue samples.
Powered by the HCR signal amplification platform, it offers fluorescent multiplexed, quantitative, high-resolution imaging of RNA.
When combined with the scalability of BOND RX and BOND RXm staining systems, it will advance RNA in situ hybridisation.
Leica Biosystems advanced assays and pharma services senior vice president Karan Arora said: “We are thrilled to introduce this important addition to our portfolio of partner assays, further solidifying BOND RX as a leader in research staining automation.
“This collaboration with Molecular Instruments is a pivotal step in making this innovative technology more accessible and scalable for cancer research.
“By combining innovation and automation, we empower researchers with a powerful platform to unlock deeper insights into RNA expression and advance our understanding of cancer biology.”
Molecular Instruments develops HCR kits for bioimaging in research, drug development, and diagnostics. Its products support automated and manual chromogenic and fluorescent in situ hybridisation (ISH) assays, with a protease-free workflow, compatibility with IHC/IF assays, and easy image analysis.
Recently, the company joined forces with Biocare Medical to advance automated bioimaging through ONCORE Pro X and HCR RNA-ISH Assays.
