Silicon Biosystems, Inc., a wholly owned and operated subsidiary of The Menarini Group, engaged in manufacturing and selling of the DEPArray platform, was awarded a contract from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Cancer Institute (NCI) to provide the Center for Cancer Research (CCR) with a DEPArray system for rare, single-cell isolation.

The DEPArray system combines image-based cell selection with dielectrophoresis-based cell movement for identification and sorting of individual cells, or pools of cells, at 100 per cent purity for detailed molecular analysis. Using the DEPArray system, NCI investigators will be able to recover desired, individual, fixed or live cells from heterogeneous samples such as FFPE tissue, fine needle aspirates, blood, fresh or frozen tumor specimens, and cell culture.

Investigators want pure preparations of these desired cells, independent of the unwanted admixture of other cell types present in the initial, heterogeneous sample, for analysis by molecular characterization methods such as next-generation sequencing (NGS) in order to define tumor subtypes, identify biomarkers for early detection, and delineate the molecular details of metastasis, drug susceptibility, drug resistance, and other disease mechanisms with applications toward precision medicine.

The solicitation for a single-cell isolation system was initiated by the NCI's Center for Cancer Research (CCR), a distinctive community of scientists and clinicians who integrate basic research discovery with the development of novel interventions against cancer and HIV/AIDS. The award supports the CCR's mission of making breakthrough discoveries in basic and clinical cancer research and developing them into novel therapeutic interventions.