Luminex Launches New MAGPIX Multiplexing Instrument

AUSTIN, Texas, July 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Luminex Corporation (Nasdaq: LMNX), the worldwide leader in multiplexed solutions, today announced the global launch of MAGPIX®, an analytical instrument that is capable of performing up to 50 tests on a single sample and providing nearly 5,000 data points in under an hour.  EMD Millipore (Billerica, MA) is the first value-added reseller that will distribute the MAGPIX instrument worldwide. The instrument was designed to meet the needs of laboratories, academic researchers and scientists, who to date have not been able to take advantage of the power of multiplexing because of resource and space limitations.

Based on Luminex's xMAP® Technology, the easy-to-use MAGPIX instrument is compact – comparable in size to a desktop computer – making it attractive to smaller and lower-volume laboratories and institutions with limited resources and bench space.  The instrument provides fast, accurate and easily reproducible results and can advance research across many disease states by bringing many types of multiplexing applications to scientists.

MAGPIX saves vital time in the laboratory, produces faster results and requires less sample input than existing legacy technologies, such as ELISA and Western blot.  Like other Luminex instruments, MAGPIX is versatile and flexible and can be used to analyze both nucleic acids and proteins, making it applicable in many research settings.

"We are very excited about the market launch of MAGPIX. This new, highly innovative instrument is an important advancement in our goal to create multiplexing solutions for a range of applications and for laboratories of all sizes," said Patrick J. Balthrop, president and chief executive officer of Luminex. "Luminex is pleased to partner with EMD Millipore for the global distribution of MAGPIX with their extensive assay menu, worldwide commercial reach and more than 10 years of expertise on the xMAP Technology platform. By bringing a compact, cost-effective, easy-to-deploy multiplexing solution to scientists, MAGPIX will help make science and medicine faster and more effective, improving the health of people around the world."

"MAGPIX is another innovative breakthrough in multiplexing technology from Luminex," said John Sweeney, head of EMD Millipore's life science business unit. "This instrument – combined with our industry-leading line of EMD Millipore reagent kits and scientific support from our knowledgeable technical staff – will enable more researchers than ever to access the power and productivity of the multiplex workflow."

MAGPIX is easy to install out of the box and weighs less than 40 lbs., approximately 18 kg, making it simple and affordable to ship and deploy anywhere in the world.  

"MAGPIX is a powerful system for scientists seeking one platform that will bring them the efficiency of multiplexing, while also allowing them to run single tests as needed," said Dr. Thomas Joos, the head of the Biochemistry Department at the NMI Natural and Medical Sciences Institute at the University of Tubingen in Germany.  "In many labs, MAGPIX will be able to replace legacy methods and allow scientists to get faster, better results and advance their research more quickly and save time and resources."

A broad, ever-expanding menu of commercially-available assays and laboratory-developed tests from Luminex and an extensive network of partners are expected to be available for MAGPIX.  The instrument uses MagPlex® magnetic microspheres and runs xPONENT® software.  MAGPIX was designed so that assays available on current Luminex instruments that use MagPlex magnetic microspheres will be compatible with MAGPIX, ensuring that scientists worldwide will have an extensive menu of assay applications available immediately.

MAGPIX is based on a new, innovative detection mechanism that uses low-cost, high performing light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and a CCD imaging system, with state-of-the-art software.

For more information on MAGPIX, call 512.219.8020, or visit www.luminexcorp.com/magpix.

About Luminex Corporation

Luminex Corporation develops, manufactures and markets proprietary biological testing technologies with applications throughout the diagnostic and life sciences industries. The Company's xMAP® multiplex solutions include an open-architecture, multi-analyte technology platform that delivers fast, accurate and cost-effective bioassay results to markets as diverse as pharmaceutical drug discovery, clinical diagnostics and biomedical research, including the genomics and proteomics markets. The Company's xMAP Technology is sold worldwide and is already in use in leading clinical laboratories as well as major pharmaceutical, diagnostic and biotechnology companies. Further information on Luminex Corporation or xMAP Technology can be obtained at www.luminexcorp.com.

SOURCE Luminex Corporation