ForteBio Introduces BLItz™, a Revolutionary, Micro-volume Label-free Analysis Platform for Personal Assays

SAN DIEGO, Dec. 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- ForteBio®, Inc., a leading supplier of label-free technology that accelerates the development of biotherapeutic and pharmaceutical products, today announced the launch of BLItz™, a revolutionary new platform that will enable scientists – for the first time – to conduct label-free analyses of proteins using small sample volumes easily and cost-efficiently at their lab bench. The new platform was unveiled today at the IBC Antibody Engineering and Therapeutics Conference in San Diego, Calif. (Booth #206 at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel).

"With BLItz, researchers will be able to perform specific protein quantitation, kinetics and affinity analyses of protein interactions with just a drop of sample in a simple 'drop, read, done' format at a price point below $20,000 per instrument," said Christopher Silva, ForteBio's vice president of marketing. "We believe BLItz will revolutionize the use of label-free protein analysis by making it more accessible than ever to individual bench scientists throughout the world. Ultimately, this will help to further drive basic research and biotherapeutic development."

Historically, label-free assays have been used selectively and relegated to institutions' core labs due to their high complexity and expense. This has traditionally produced bottlenecks in biotherapeutic research and development as scientists may wait days and weeks to schedule their experiments and then hours or longer to obtain results. BLItz is small – taking up less surface area than a tablet personal computer – so it can fit easily in an individual scientist's workspace and is simple to use. It requires only four microliters of sample – which is 15 to 20 times less volume than needed for traditional, SPR-based label-free assays or microplate-based ELISA assays. Additionally, its Dip and Read™ assays utilize disposable, ready-to-use biosensors to uniquely provide results in seconds to minutes.

BLItz utilizes the same BioLayer Interferometry (BLI) technology that powers ForteBio's flagship Octet® instrumentation platform, which enables real-time kinetics, affinity and quantitation measurements in high-throughput applications, with unprecedented ease of use and cost-efficiency.

"ForteBio has a history of delivering disruptive technologies that have re-invented the label-free protein analysis space," said Joseph D. Keegan, Ph.D., ForteBio's chief executive officer. "In just seven years, many leading academic, government and corporate institutions have adopted our Octet platform and have consumed more than four million biosensors for use on the system. We look forward to making similar inroads with our new BLItz platform and anticipate that BLItz will help fuel further growth in proteomics."

The new BLItz system is designed for any researcher working with proteins, particularly those who analyze column fractions, monitor protein expression, perform reagent QC, identify mechanism of action and signaling and run protein engineering studies.  More information about BLItz can be found at www.BlitzMeNow.com.

ABOUT FORTEBIO, INC.

ForteBio is a life science company that provides analytical systems to accelerate biotherapeutic drug discovery and development. These systems enable real-time, label-free analysis of biomolecular interactions, providing information on affinity, kinetics and concentration. ForteBio's analytical capabilities enable significantly easier, faster and better characterization of drug candidates, thus providing greater value in drug development applications where existing methods have limitations in throughput, performance and cost. The company is headquartered in Menlo Park, California, with wholly owned subsidiaries in London and Shanghai. For more information, visit www.fortebio.com.

SOURCE ForteBio, Inc.