Nature Methods Selects Spatially-Resolved Transcriptomics as the Method of the Year for 2020

NanoString Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:NSTG), a leading provider of life science tools for discovery and translational research, today announced that the journal Nature Methods has selected spatially-resolved transcriptomics as their prestigious Method of the Year for 2020. See article here: https://www.nature.com/collections/dfibfggefc/

Spatial context in biological research has been important since the introduction of microscopy, but researchers have only been able to study a few analytes at a time due to the optical limits of fluorescence imaging. With the advent of new high-plex spatial tools, researchers can characterize the cells present in tissue, as well as understanding how these cells interact. Innovations such as optical bar codes attached to oligonucleotides provide what is essentially an unlimited color spectrum to identify thousands of analytes in parallel.

In 2019, NanoString launched the GeoMx® Digital Spatial Profiler (DSP), the first platform to provide high-plex and high-throughput spatial profiling of RNA or protein from FFPE tissue, enabling researchers to dissect the complexity of cellular interactions at a local level and facilitating the discovery of novel biomarkers. The GeoMx® DSP provides scientists with a complete solution that includes optimized workflows, off-the-shelf validated assays, and a fully integrated suite of data analysis software.

"High-plex spatial analysis of normal and diseased tissues is the next frontier in functional genomics and in the development of new diagnostics. Precision medicine will be a direct beneficiary," said Peter Sorger, Ph.D., Otto Krayer Professor of Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School.

“The GeoMx platform has opened new dimensions for our understanding of how patients respond to CAR T-cell therapy, allowing us to better understand factors that may contribute to improving their efficacy and durability,” stated Carl June, Director of the Center for Cellular Immunotherapies, Perelman School of Medicine and Director of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, University of Pennsylvania. “This new technology will provide a quantum step forward in our ability to improve responses to CAR T-cell therapies in patients with solid tumors as well as improve outcomes with commercially approved CAR T for hematologic malignancies. As the first academic center to utilize the platform for tracking CAR-T spatially, we have been able to identify CAR T-cells within the tumor microenvironment and determine functional status by high-plex spatial analysis of RNA for immune and tumor-related pathways in patients undergoing cellular therapy.”

“Over the last sixteen years Nature’s Method of the Year has highlighted technologies that subsequently revolutionized life science research,” said Brad Gray, president and CEO of NanoString. “Next Generation Sequencing, the 2009 Method of the Year, has become the ubiquitous platform for analyzing genomics in bulk. Single Cell Analysis, the 2013 Method of the Year, has created an appreciation for heterogeneity and is still exploding seven years later. We believe that spatial analysis will usher in the next revolution in biological research and become a defining trend of the next decade.”

“NanoString entered the spatial biology market in 2016 with the development of our GeoMx Digital Spatial Profiler that enabled spatial profiling of both RNA and protein, even in challenging FFPE samples,” said Joe Beechem, chief scientific officer and SVP of R&D for NanoString. “Last month we unveiled our next spatial platform, the Spatial Molecular Imager, that can extend such research to single-cell and even sub-cellular analysis. We believe we have an industry-leading portfolio of tools that spans the entire continuum of spatial research applications.”

To learn more about NanoString’s GeoMx Digital Spatial Profiler, please visit https://www.nanostring.com/products/geomx-digital-spatial-profiler/geomx-dsp.

About NanoString Technologies, Inc.

NanoString Technologies is a leading provider of life science tools for discovery and translational research. The company’s nCounter® Analysis System is used in life sciences research and has been cited in more than 4,000 peer-reviewed publications. The nCounter Analysis System offers a cost-effective way to easily profile the expression of hundreds of genes, proteins, miRNAs, or copy number variations, simultaneously with high sensitivity and precision, facilitating a wide variety of basic research and translational medicine applications, including biomarker discovery and validation. The company’s GeoMx® Digital Spatial Profiler enables highly-multiplexed spatial profiling of RNA and protein targets in a variety of sample types, including FFPE tissue sections.

For more information, please visit www.nanostring.com.

NanoString, NanoString Technologies, the NanoString logo, GeoMx, and nCounter are trademarks or registered trademarks of NanoString Technologies, Inc. in various jurisdictions.

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Doug Farrell, NanoString
Vice President, Investor Relations & Corporate Communications
[email protected]
Phone: 206-602-1768