Studies have shown bead-based antibodies can get to equilibrium in about 10 minutes. What's more, because the company works with small volumes of blood and microspheres, there will be significant savings with disposable and consumable materials, especially since none are radioactive. According to Luminex, its dyes and microspheres are relatively inexpensive, and reagent usage is generally one percent or less than that of microwell-based assays. In contrast to conventional tests, in which volumes of reagents grow with each analyte, the Luminex vision is to require no more consumables for a panel of 100 compounds than for one compound. The Luminex platform should also be easy to integrate within laboratories.
Laboratories can use the automated liquid-handling systems that they already have.
That saves a lot on the cost. And the software is Windows-based, so it's easily interfaced with existing laboratory information systems. We feel it will fit in well with a high-throughput, automated laboratory. Beyond the mundane, Luminex is already discussing flexibility that makers of biochips and more conventional tests could not even contemplate. The company believes its microspheres are so easy to work with that new scientific findings will be easily incorporated into the platform.