The assays are used to determine hemoglobin variants and diabetes risk, using Bruker´s Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization (MALDI) Biotyper platform for clinical mass spectrometry and based on intellectual property developed at the UVic GBC Proteomics Centre.
Bruker Daltonics Business Development vice president Gary Kruppa said that the MALDI Biotyper is a versatile, robust, benchtop system that is well suited for use in clinical laboratories as evidenced by its large installed base.
The new MALDI time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOF-MS) based test for hbA1c and genetic hemoglobin variants designed for use on the MALDI Biotyper platform are expected to offer specificity, accuracy, speed of analysis and cost per analysis.
University of Victoria director Christoph Borchers said that further development of MALDI and immunoMALDI (iMALDI) technology would lead to commercialization of MALDI-TOF based tests for a number of important diseases.
"Developing and validating these tests in collaboration with Bruker gives us a partner ready to deploy such tests on the clinically accepted MALDI Biotyper platform, which will reduce our time to market," Borchers added.