As part of the VIB’s Technology Watch Initiative, The FOx BIOSYSTEMS instrument will be used to accelerate research in the field of cancer and neurobiology.
FLANDERS, BELGIUM — May 16, 2018 — FOx BIOSYSTEMS, a biosensor company, and VIB, the life sciences research institute in Flanders (Belgium), announced today that VIB will become an important research institute to evaluate the White FOx 1.0 in its workflows as part of its vision for adopting breakthrough technologies.
The proprietary FOx technology in the White FOx 1.0 system turns the well-established Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) principle into a highly performant, easy to use and cost-effective analytical instrument for biomolecular interaction analyses. Its performance and versatility makes it an interesting system for VIB to speed up its research in the field of cancer and neurobiology.
VIB’s Technology Watch Initiative implements new, emerging, and disruptive technologies into its laboratories and research facilities. Active since 2008, the Technology Watch program evaluates strategic technology investment opportunities and provides the funding to secure prototype instruments and high-potential early-stage technologies.
The White FOx 1.0 will be placed in the lab of Prof. Anna Sablina, in the VIB-KU Leuven Center for Cancer Biology. Professor Sablina’s research is focused on understanding the cooperative interactions that conspire to promote tumorigenic transformation. To discover drivers of cancer development and progression, they create experimental models of cell transformation derived from primary human cells that mimic alterations found in human cancer samples. These models provide a useful platform to delineate pathways involved in cell transformation and to discover new targets for therapeutic intervention.
“The FOx technology will also be evaluated in the VIB-KU Leuven Center for Brain & Disease Research amongst others by the lab of prof. Frederic Rousseau and prof. Joost Schymkowitz, and the group of prof. Lucia Chávez Gutiérrez. We expect that the FOx system can have substantial benefits in other research fields across the life sciences also, such as Cancer Research, Structural biology and beyond in therapeutic development” adds Halina Novak, Ph.D., Technology and Innovation manager at VIB.
FOx’s sensor technology can be used, depending on the required sensitivity, in a label-free or labelled mode enabling the quantification of specific proteins, small molecules, DNA and cells in microliter volume samples. “Additional advantages of the FOx technology compared to competing technologies, are its throughput, speed of measuring and the ability to directly analyze crude cell lysates. As such, the White FOx 1.0 makes it possible for our scientists to detect different target molecules up to 10 times faster, at a low cost base and with a high flexibility”, adds Silvie Van den Hoecke, Ph.D., Life Science Technology Specialist at Tech Watch.
“The versatility and robustness of the FOx systems are key benefits in current high-level research,” says Filip Delport, CTO of FOx BIOSYSTEMS. “The evaluation of our technology by VIB, notably one of Europe’s most innovative research institutes, will show the benefits in different cutting-edge research fields”
About VIB
Basic research in life sciences is VIB’s raison d’être. VIB is pushing the boundaries of molecular mechanisms and how they rule living organisms, such as human beings, animals, plants and microorganisms, while also creating tangible results for the benefit of society. Based on a close partnership with five Flemish universities – Ghent University, KU Leuven, University of Antwerp, Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Hasselt University – and supported by a solid funding program, VIB unites the expertise of 75 research groups in a single institute. VIB’s technology transfer activities translate research results into new economic ventures which, in time, lead to new products that can be used in medicine, agriculture and other applications. VIB also engages actively in the public debate on biotechnology by developing and disseminating a wide range of science-based information about all aspects of biotechnology. More information: www.vib.be
VIB Tech Watch
Through the strategic application of VIB Tech Watch funds, VIB labs boast groundbreaking new technologies such as those enabling human genome sequencing, bioinformatics, next generation DNA sequencing, and a diverse range of visualization and proteomics technologies. Over the years, Tech Watch has gathered in-depth information about disruptive technologies that could aid VIB scientists, sharing over 100 of these innovations with the entire organization in the last ten years and assisting researchers in obtaining funds to use these technologies to boost research output. Recently, the Technology Innovation Lab was added to this initiative. “By organizing trainings, operating these technologies and troubleshooting in the labs next to the scientists, we aim to further increase the implementation of prototype instrument and new technologies at VIB. We are convinced that this unique set-up contributes to the competitive character of VIB.” states Silvie Van den Hoecke, Life Science Technology Specialist at Tech Watch.
About FOx BIOSYSTEMS
FOx BIOSYSTEMS is a spin-off from the KU Leuven. The company offers superior analytical systems, consumables and services for the R&D instrumentation market and the bioprocessing market (development and production of bio-pharmaceuticals). FOx BIOSYSTEMS was founded in 2016 after more than 10 years of high level research in the MeBioS Biosensor group of Professor Lammertyn, KULeuven. The FOx BIOSYSTEMS instrumentation uses the fiber optic surface plasmon resonance (FO-SPR) to detect target molecules. The disposable sensor probe is coated with a gold layer and functionalized with bioreceptors. This sensor probe is then coupled to a cost-effective, reliable analytical benchtop instrument that enables real-time analysis of biomolecular interactions with a miniaturized optical unit. This instrument, priced at a fraction of competing technologies, was designed, developed and built to be easily operated by a non-specialized user. FOx’ sensor technology can be used in a label-free or labelled mode enabling the quantification of specific proteins, small molecules, DNA and cells in microliter volume samples. This allows scientists or process control analysis laboratories to perform biomolecular analysis in a faster, more robust and more versatile way than ever before.
FOx BIOSYSTEMS contact:
info@foxbiosystems.com
VIB contact:
Halina Novak, VIB Technology and Innovation Manager
halina.novak@vib.be
+32 9 244 66 11