BiOptix, headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, seeks to expand the power of label-free technology with its groundbreaking Surface Plasmon-enhanced Common Path Interferometry (SPE) instrument, the ACCOLADE. SPE technology enables researchers to produce higher quality data that more accurately describes the reality of molecular interactions under study. The proprietary BiOptix ACCOLADE uses a four-feature single flowcell multiplex array format and is designed for kinetic analysis of biomolecular interactions. The system promotes placement of experimental controls adjacent to test features, external instrument chip-loading and an intuitive graphical user interface, the BiOptix LabConsole. The ACCOLADE™ provides scientists an accurate and sensitive label-free system that is also easier to use, economical to operate, and accessible to laboratories with constrained budgets.
A key element of BiOptix’ future strategy is to provide users consumable SensorChip™ cartridges with proprietary content chemistry, such as for Chinese Hamster Ovary Protein (CHOP) quality control for biotherapeutics, and/or a kinase panel for kinase inhibitor studies. These products will also help lay the groundwork for entry into other markets such as clinical diagnostics. It is the company’s intent, given the developmental timelines and investment involved, to pursue such market expansion in a staged fashion.
BiOptix closed its Series B funding for $9 million on March 24, 2011 with an investor syndicate led by the Russian Corporation for Nanotechnologies (RUSNANO), including Boulder Ventures and Peierls Foundation.