Standard BioTools Inc.
Formerly
  • Fluidigm Corporation
  • Mycometrix
TypePublic
Founded1999 (1999)
Headquarters
South San Francisco, California
,
United States
Key people
Michael Egholm
(President & CEO)
RevenueIncrease US$130.6 million (2021)[1]
Number of employees
615 (December 2021)[2]
Websitestandardbio.com
Standard BioTools Canada

Standard BioTools Inc., previously known as Fluidigm Corp., provides an established portfolio of essential, standardized technologies that empower customers to scale and accelerate their life sciences research.

The company offers analytical mass cytometry systems powered by CyTOF® technology for flow cytometry and tissue imaging, along with associated assays and reagents, as well as an automated genomic analysis instrument and a variety of microfluidic arrays, or integrated fluidic circuits (IFCs),[3] and consumables with fully kitted reagents. Custom assays and services are available with all systems and applications.

Standard BioTools™ sells products to academic research institutions; translational research and medical centers; cancer centers; clinical research laboratories; biopharmaceutical, biotechnology and plant and animal research companies; and contract research organizations.

Business model

Standard BioTools is a public company traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange, previously under the ticker symbol FLDM,[4] currently under LAB.

Standard BioTools is driven by a bold vision – Unleashing tools to accelerate breakthroughs in human health™ – and works from a foundation built on the Standard BioTools Business System (SBS), using lean methodologies and problem solving to enable organizational transformation and drive business growth. From interrogating cell function and cancer-immune cell interactions to confidently determining new biomarkers or integrity of samples, Standard BioTools promotes the development of breakthrough medicines through the delivery of consistent, reliable and repeatable results.

Its genomic analysis products leverage the capabilities of MSL® (multilayer soft lithography) to create microfluidic devices or IFCs.[5][6] Genomics applications using IFCs processed on the Biomark™ X9 System for High-Throughput Genomics include gene expression and genotyping by PCR and NGS library preparation for pathogen detection, agrigenomics, sample identification and pharmacogenomics.

Its proteomic analysis products are based on technology developed by DVS Sciences, acquired by Fluidigm® in 2014.[6] DVS is best known for its multiparameter single-cell protein analysis systems, originally starting with the CyTOF® 2 mass cytometer,[7] which analyze antibody/metal complexes using atomic mass spectrometry. The technology enables precise, high-parameter single-cell protein analysis for applications in life sciences research.

The company has remained a pioneer in integrated microfluidic technology, with continued iterations of IFCs for a growing variety of applications. It is also the only company developing mass cytometry technologies for both flow cytometry and imaging applications.

Standard BioTools has infused industrial design, aesthetic and customer centricity principles to help distinguish their products from those of competitors and generate a distinctive brand experience for users based on quality and reliability.

History

The company was founded in 1999 as Mycometrix by Stephen Quake and Gajus Worthington.[8] The company was formed to commercialize technology developed by Quake at the California Institute of Technology referred to as microfluidic large-scale integration and branded IFCs[1]. Richard DeLateur, a 20-year veteran of Intel®, came on as chief financial officer in 2006.[9] Worthington was the company’s chief executive officer from its inception in 1999 to 2016. Quake has remained a member of the company’s scientific advisory board.

The company’s founders leveraged their semiconductor experience to create integrated circuits that carried fluids rather than electrons. In 2009, the company was described as “the world’s leading manufacturer of microfluidic devices[5].” The company’s original microfluidics products were aimed for use in applications such as protein crystallization, genotyping, DNA analysis and PCR.

The company completed a successful initial public offering (IPO) in February 2011, raising about $75 million.[4] This followed a failed, ill-timed IPO in 2008.[10] As of the 2011 IPO, Fluidigm had not yet become profitable. Following a $250 million investment from Casdin Capital, LLC and Viking Global Investors LP in April 2022, Fluidigm changed its name to Standard BioTools.[11] This change created a diversified, scalable innovation-focused life science tools company serving the pharma research markets, led by a newly appointed world-class team of seasoned operators with large enterprise expertise and proven commercialization track records.

In January 2024, Standard BioTools completed a merger with SomaLogic, creating a diversified and scaled leader that provides differentiated multi-omics tools for research. The combined company is poised to realize significant benefits targeting large, high growth markets with a comprehensive portfolio of life sciences tools that power industry-leading throughput and data quality.

Operations

At the end of 2023, Standard BioTools had a headcount of 500 personnel.

In addition to its headquarters and laboratory facility in South San Francisco, California, which it expanded in 2014, the company established the first biochip manufacturing facility in Singapore in 2005.

In 2022, Standard BioTools expanded their offices and manufacturing and research and development facility in Markham, Ontario. This expansion and focus on lean practices have supported the company’s success in raising the quality of the cytometry products it develops.

Products

Standard BioTools products consist of high-throughput analysis systems for proteomics and genomics studies, in addition to consumables and assays run on these systems, for use in basic, translational and clinical research.

Fluidigm’s first commercial product was aimed at the protein crystallization market and was launched in 2003 under the brand TOPAZ.[12] The company’s second marketed product targeted high-throughput DNA amplification and was launched in 2006 under the brand Biomark.[13] By 2013, Biomark had been adapted to real-time PCR and was capable of running >9,000 reactions in parallel. A high-throughput genotyping system, EP1™, was introduced in 2008. All of these systems have since been combined into the Biomark X9™ System, which enables multiple genotyping and gene expression applications as well as NGS library preparation,[14] generating thousands of datapoints from a single run.

The C1™ system was released in the early 2010s aimed at delivering 96 single-cell capture and processing events in parallel. One reported use for the instrument was “to identify signatures of induced pluripotent stem cells[4].”

With a goal of expanding the use of CyTOF technology to new researchers and applications. Fluidigm introduced Helios™, a CyTOF system, in 2015, and in 2017 it launched the Hyperion™ Imaging System for Imaging Mass Cytometry™ (IMC™) applications.[15] At this time, Fluidigm offered several pre-designed antibody panels and over 700 commercially available antibodies for use with mass cytometry and IMC, including the Maxpar® Direct™ Immune Profiling System. Setting the new standard in human immune profiling, this profiling system provided the first complete sample-to-answer solution to quantify 37 different immune cell populations using a simple single-tube workflow with automated five-minute results reporting.

In 2021, Fluidigm introduced CyTOF XT™,[16][17] a fourth-generation CyTOF platform that enables systems-level biology at single-cell resolution. CyTOF technology provides a high-resolution proteomic profile of each cell, which distinguishes it from all other cells and reveals the heterogeneity of the sample. The technology also supports cell barcoding to enable multiplexing of samples for more accurate analysis and reduced technical variation.

In 2023, Standard BioTools launched the Hyperion XTi™ Imaging System,[18] designed for clinical research, to accelerate the study of spatial biology by detecting single-cell data five times faster than previous iterations. The Hyperion XTi Imaging System images up to 40 slides per day, processing larger numbers of samples in shorter periods of time.

These products have proven their worth in life sciences research evidenced by their inclusion in thousands of publications. Based on year-to-date estimates, 96% of publications using 20 or more protein markers used mass cytometry.

The new addition of SomaLogic brings a powerful proteomics solution from Standard BioTools, enabling 11,000 protein measurements (10,000 unique human proteins). The proprietary SomaScan® Assay measures proteins with high specificity, low variance and high reproducibility, which enables the possibility of faster, more precise drug discovery.

Notes

  1. ↑ Linthwaite & Jog 2022, p. 75.
  2. ↑ Linthwaite & Jog 2022, p. 15.
  3. ↑ Dutton, Gail (2015-01-14). "Fluidigm Pioneers Single-Cell Biology". GEN - Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
  4. 1 2 3 Tse, Andrea (2011-02-10). "Fluidigm Pops After IPO". TheStreet. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
  5. 1 2 "Fluidigm: 250 Million Microfluidic Valves Manufactured – and Counting". Nanotechnology Business Journal. 7 Sep 2009. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015.
  6. 1 2 "Fluidigm and DVS Sciences Announce Agreement for Fluidigm to Acquire DVS Sciences – Creating a Single-Cell Technology Powerhouse". Standard BioTools Press Release. 9 January 2014.
  7. ↑ "Dvs Sciences Introduces The Cytof® 2". Standard BioTools Press Release. 4 May 2013.
  8. ↑ "Mycometrix changes name to Fluidigm". Drug Discovery Online. 4 June 2001. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
  9. ↑ Del Conte, Natali T. (20 March 2006). "Richard DeLateur and Fludigm". The San Francisco Examiner. p. 17. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
  10. ↑ "Fluidigm postpones IPO, citing market conditions". Reuters. 22 September 2008.
  11. ↑ "Fluidigm Completes $250 Million Strategic Capital Infusion and Changes Name to Standard BioTools Inc". Standard BioTools Press Release. 4 April 2022.
  12. ↑ "Fluidigm Completes Protein Crystallization Platform". The Scientist Magazine®. 9 May 2004. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
  13. ↑ "Fluidigm Introduces BioMark™ Digital Arrays for Digital PCR". Genomics Research from Technology Networks. 27 December 2006. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
  14. ↑ "Standard BioTools Announces NGS Library Preparation as an Upgrade on the X9 High-Throughput Genomics System". Standard BioTools Press Release. 18 May 2023.
  15. ↑ "CyTOF Inventors Receive Prestigious Science and Technology Award from the Human Proteome Organization (HUPO)". Standard BioTools Press Release. 18 September 2019.
  16. ↑ Bonislawski, Adam (2 July 2015). "Fluidigm Aims to Expand CyTOF Market with Launch of New Platform, Barcoding System". GenomeWeb.
  17. ↑ "Next-Generation CyTOF XT Redefines Cytometry with Advances in Automation, Throughput, Time to Results and Total Cost of Ownership". Standard BioTools Press Release. 21 May 2021.
  18. ↑ "Standard BioTools introduces the Hyperion XTi Imaging System, breaks barriers to power significant advancement in spatial biology". Standard BioTools Press Release. 17 April 2023.

References

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