Beckman Coulter Life Sciences Enters Partnership with Apostle

Beckman Coulter Life Sciences (Indianapolis, IN, USA) has entered into a partnership with Apostle Inc. (Menlo Park, CA, USA) for the launch of Apostle MiniMax High Efficiency Cell-Free DNA Isolation Kit, a magnetic nanoparticle-based kit to extract circulating free DNA (cfDNA) from plasma using manual or automated workflows.

Beckman Coulter Life Sciences develops, manufactures and markets products that simplify, automate and innovate complex biomedical testing. Apostle is dedicated to fundamentally improving the accuracy and efficiency of liquid biopsy—the testing of cfDNA—in early cancer detection or other clinical applications, such as non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) and tests for infectious diseases. As cfDNA workflows move beyond theoretical and into human health applications, Apostle's industry-leading chemistry, paired with Beckman Coulter Life Sciences’ portfolio of genomic reagents and liquid handling platforms, enables researchers to meet the growing demands for sequencing of tumor-derived cfDNA.

Due to limited cfDNA concentration, sufficient yield for next-generation sequencing (NGS) or other downstream applications can require higher volumes of plasma. As the volume increases, issues such as recovery efficiency and workflow complexity often arise. Plasma contains a host of contaminants that are problematic at this scale and can reduce assay sensitivity. Apostle MiniMax technology performs reliably across a range of volume inputs, consistently recovering high quantities of cfDNA, while effectively removing contaminants.

“Beckman Coulter Life Sciences is committed to working collaboratively with our customers to find the best technologies to meet their complex needs,” said Steve Wowk, Director of Genomics, Beckman Coulter Life Sciences. “We have listened to their ongoing challenges in working with cfDNA and sought to find ways to effectively combat those issues. This includes recognizing that an innovative product from a startup like Apostle is the best technology to address these needs.”

“Beckman Coulter Life Sciences’established global presence and commitment to life sciences makes them an ideal collaborator to provide access to our innovative nucleic acid isolation products to customers around the globe,” said David Ge, President and CEO, Apostle Inc.