NanoString Technologies Touts Interest in CosMx Spatial Biology Platform at JPM

NEW YORK CITY— Though NanoString Technologies is still numerous quarters out from releasing its brand-new CosMx spatial molecular imager, the platform is already garnering considerable interest amongst scientists.

According to CEO Brad Gray, who presented on Wednesday afternoon at the virtual JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, the business has already received at least 20 pre-orders for the system.

In addition, more than 200 scientists have actually downloaded a bundle with data from the instrument from the NanoString site, and the business has recognized 100 potential sales opportunities currently.

Half of the customers who pre-ordered the CosMx imager will be new to NanoString, and 45 percent of them decided to bundle the CosMx with the GeoMx digital spatial profiler. “Lots of were purchasing sight unseen,” Gray stated, implying they did not get involved in the CosMx technology access program, or TAP. Over half of the consumers intend to utilize the platform for oncology research, but 20 percent will use it for neuroscience. Half remained in North America, and a quarter each in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, as well as in Asia-Pacific. The consumer list includes the National Cancer Institute, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Brigham and Women’s Health center.

The CosMx TAP is totally subscribed, Gray stated, with 28 jobs reserved. Of those, 70 percent have been follow-up research study from single-cell transcriptomics experiments and 40 percent are follow-up research studies from GeoMx information.

2 researchers taking part in the TAP informed GenomeWeb about their experiences with CosMx information.

“I was amazed and extremely happy with the information,” Quan Nguyen, a cancer researcher at Australia’s University of Queensland Institute for Molecular Bioscience, said in an e-mail. “The data permit me to map cell types to their initial spatial tissue context at single-cell resolution.

Jacob Estes, a body immune system scientist at Oregon Health & Science University who had actually not utilized NanoString items before, stated in an e-mail that he was likewise pleased with his TAP outcomes. The data revealed 1,000 targeted host cell genes at single-cell or subcellular resolution, as well as 8 virus-specific simian immunodeficiency genes. CosMx “has the level of sensitivity to identify individual viral particles trapped and maintained on follicular dendritic cells within B cell follicles of lymph nodes, along with productively contaminated CD4 T cells,” he said.

“This ability unlocks to ask essential concerns about the transcriptomic profile of contaminated cells along with the cells engaging with the infected cells in their cellular immune neighborhoods,” Estes said.

Spatial biology, in basic, continues to speed up development for the Seattle-based business, according to Gray, as it drove 60 percent of all orders.

On Monday, NanoString launched preliminary 2021 incomes of approximately $144 million, up 29 percent year over year, and fourth quarter product or services revenues of $42 million, up 18 percent.

GeoMx incomes were up 49 percent in 2021 over the prior year, while nCounter earnings were up 20 percent. 4th quarter GeoMx profits were roughly $18 million, up 48 percent year over year, while nCounter profits were $24 million, up 2 percent.

The company positioned 30 GeoMx systems in Q4 and 145 in the year, increasing its set up base to 255 instruments at year’s end. Overall instrument orders grew 33 percent year over year to more than 285.

Gray described the nCounter service as “stable,” however acknowledged the company desired to do much better on consumables sales, which have lagged during the COVID-19 pandemic. He recommended that the reduced revenues are in part attributable to lower activity among biopharma clients– just 65 percent of pre-pandemic activity levels– due to slow healing of oncology scientific trials.

In 2022, Gray said to keep an eye out for a brand-new cloud-based spatial biology information website in the third quarter. The platform will provide tools for image analysis, international collaboration, scalable computing and data storage, data visualization, and expert system and machine knowing assistance.

Already, the business has actually released new products or options for GeoMx, including fully-customizable RNA panels throughout mammalian types and co-detection of RNA and protein expression from the same slide. NanoString likewise launched an automatic workflow that integrates Leica’s Bond RX autostainer and prepares as much as 30 slides in one day.

With the CosMx launch slated for delivery around the world in Q4, NanoString is preparing to release beta systems in Q2. While some peer-reviewed literature might be offered this year, seeing it in 2023 would be a “more secure bet,” Gray said. At the upcoming Advances in Genome Biology and Innovation conference, about 15 abstracts will consist of CosMx information, he noted.

Half of the clients who pre-ordered the CosMx imager will be new to NanoString, and 45 percent of them decided to bundle the CosMx with the GeoMx digital spatial profiler. More than half of the customers plan to use the platform for oncology research study, however 20 percent will use it for neuroscience. CosMx “has the level of sensitivity to identify individual viral particles caught and maintained on follicular dendritic cells within B cell follicles of lymph nodes, as well as proficiently infected CD4 T cells,” he stated.

With the CosMx launch slated for shipment across the globe in Q4, NanoString is planning to release beta systems in Q2. At the upcoming Advances in Genome Biology and Innovation conference, about 15 abstracts will consist of CosMx information, he noted.