Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc has entered into a research, supply and co-marketing agreement with Cell Signaling Technology Inc. Under this exclusive collaboration, Bio-Rad will develop multiplex bead-based assays for its Bio-Plex suspension array system using antibodies developed and validated by CST. The resulting assays will enable the simultaneous assessment of multiple molecules that play a role in cellular signaling, an important area of discovery and disease research.

"This research and co-marketing collaboration with CST will greatly expand the number of assays we can offer to our Bio-Plex customers and will enable them to make significant advances in cellular signaling research," said Brad Crutchfield, Bio-Rad's vice president of life science. "These advances will have a great impact on both our understanding of fundamental biological processes and in advancing the treatment of disease."

"Our expertise in antibody development and Bio-Rad's expertise in bead-based assay development will enable Bio-Rad's development of highly specific multiplex assays to assess signal transduction pathways," added Michael Melnick, CST's vice president of business and corporate development.

"These assays will enable investigators to elucidate the functions of signaling proteins and pathways within the context of systems biology."

A prominent focus of the collaboration is Bio-Rad's development of multiplex assays that detect protein phosphorylation, one of the primary mechanisms of cellular signaling. By understanding how signaling mechanisms are regulated, researchers can better understand abnormalities in these mechanisms, many of which underlie diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disorders, and metabolic and inflammatory diseases.