Singapore: Biotech company Aushon has launched Cira, a new multiplex immunoassay platform that achieves the sensitivity and reproducibility of singleplex ELISA, while substantially improving ease of use and leveraging the benefits of parallel analysis. The system's revolutionary design produces faster results at a lower cost per sample and higher throughput without compromising the quality or consistency scientists need for their clinical studies.

Aushon achieved these breakthroughs from four synergistic, proprietary inventions: ultra-precise microarray printing, a novel circular assay design, a new high-resolution imager with built-in acquisition algorithms and a sophisticated bioinformatics engine to generate user data within minutes.

Aushon's proprietary printing technology improves performance by placing analytes precisely in a unique, circular pattern that optimizes the fluidic properties for each Ciraplex assay. The Cirascan astronomy-grade imaging system captures multiple, high-resolution images for each chemiluminescent array plate in order to maximize sensitivity and dynamic range. Finally, the sophisticated, built-in Cirasoft software analyzes only the precise coordinates of the spotted features, thereby reducing "noise" and leading to improved performance.

"We're very pleased with the market's enthusiasm for our new platform," said Pete Honkanen, Founder and CEO of Aushon. "With the Cira launch, we are now poised to be the platform of choice for protein biomarker analysis and make a substantial contribution to the revolution in personalized medicine."

Personalized medicine, expected to reach $20 billion by 2014, is driving the growth in the biomarker market. In 2010 MarketsandMarkets, of Dallas Texas, estimated worldwide spending on protein biomarker research for oncology alone was $650 million.