New Product Portfolio Release Significantly Reduces Hands-on Time for Tissue-based Research

Munich, Germany, May 13, 2013 – Definiens, the global leader of image and data analysis solutions for quantitative digital pathology, today announced at the 4^th International Definiens Symposium on Harvard Medical School campus the launch of new software that improves productivity in tissue-based research and biomarker development. The new software extends the functionality of Definiens’ existing product portfolio and provides a significant quality control advantage, with up to a two-fold reduction in hands on time for researchers.

Inspired by customer feedback, the software removes a number of bottlenecks in the research process and features end-to-end workflow support from initial image analysis to final results. The efficient whole-slide review along with the smooth integration of image analysis and data mining capabilities significantly reduces hands-on time, increases productivity and accelerates the development of tissue-based biomarkers.

“The latest release of Definiens’ product suite represents the first end-to-end software solution for tissue-based research,” said Kai Hartmann, Director Product Marketing Life Sciences of Definiens. “Definiens customers can now experience the entire workflow process from digital image and metadata to the final result. We are dedicated to continually learn from our users and the discussions at the Symposium are a prime opportunity to obtain inspiration for ongoing product development.”

This latest version of Definiens’ product portfolio is being released at the 4^th International Definiens Symposium taking place at the Joseph B. Martin Conference Center on Harvard Medical School campus in Boston, May 13-15, 2013. The Symposium is an annual event featuring more than 20 expert presenters, and represents a unique forum for thought leaders in digital pathology and tissue-based biomarker development to discuss the latest trends in quantitative research and cutting-edge biomedical image and data analysis. The event brings together experts from around the world to share best practices and learn from their approaches and experiences.

“As the leader in image and data analysis solutions for digital pathology, we are proud to be part of the impressive advances in disease diagnosis and patient outcomes being discussed at the 4th International Definiens Symposium,” said Thomas Heydler, CEO of Definiens. “The presentations and discussions highlight that image and data analysis expertise has become the definitive advantage in biomarker development and cancer biology.”

About Definiens

Definiens is the leading provider of image analysis and data mining solutions for life sciences, tissue diagnostics and clinical digital pathology. Definiens software provides detailed cell-by-cell readouts from target structures on whole tissue slides, and allows the correlation of this information with data derived from other sources. By automating analysis workflows, Definiens helps pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, research institutions, clinical service organizations and pathologists to generate new knowledge and support better decisions in research, diagnostics and therapy. Definiens’ vision is to open new fields of research, to contribute to development of personalized medicine and to significantly improve the quality of patients’ lives.

Definiens is headquartered in Munich, Germany and has a North American office in Carlsbad, California. Further information is available at www.definiens.com.

Media Contact
Definiens AG
Dr Florian Leiss
Manager Marketing Communications

+49 (89) 2311-8024
fleiss@definiens.com

From the editor: There is good progress regarding the validation of whole slide imaging for diagnostic purposes in pathology and Keith Kaplan provides a very helpful comment and summary on the Digital Pathology Blog. Click here to read the original article or see below.

A busy few weeks of news continues with announcement that the College of American Pathologists has released their much anticipated validation plan guidelines for use of whole slide imaging for diagnostic purposes in pathology and has kindly agreed to share the news with readers.  Thanks and congratulations to Liron and the panel for leading the charge on this effort with the College. Additional key points/recommendations/guidelines and links for additional information and resources for the entire twelve practical recommendations are below.

This news comes on the heels of recent stories mentioned on this site about expansion of pathology services abroad, system certification in Canada and increasing cooperative distributor agreements for scanning and software manufacturers in the digital pathology space.

The College of American Pathologists (CAP) has released a new evidence-based guideline:

Validating Whole Slide Imaging for Diagnostic Purposes in Pathology

This clinical guideline, now available in Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, is the first-of-its kind and marks a significant step forward in demonstrating the value of this emerging technology for diagnostic use.

The document serves as a practical guide for pathologists and laboratories to confirm the accuracy and concordance of their own whole slide imaging (WSI) systems for diagnostic work while ensuring the digital tool is being used properly for its intended clinical purpose in an effort to deliver optimal patient care.

Twelve practical recommendations are outlined in the guideline, including the following key items:

• Validation of the entire WSI system, involving pathologists trained to use the system, should be performed in a manner which emulates the laboratory’s actual clinical environment.
• It is recommended that such a validation study include at least 60 routine cases per application, assessing intraobserver diagnostic concordance between digitized and glass slides viewed at least two weeks apart.
• It is important that the validation process confirms that all material present on a glass slide to be scanned is included in the digital image.

Currently, the US Food and Drug Administration does not approve WSI systems for primary diagnosis. In that context, this CAP guideline gives current recommendations while preparing its members for wider adoption of digital imaging technology in the future. Pathologists practicing abroad can begin to implement the guideline immediately in concordance with their country’s regulatory guidelines for using WSI in making primary diagnoses.

The CAP offers tools and resources, including a downloadable summary of the recommendations, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and a teaching presentation for further implementation and understanding of the guideline. In addition, members can learn how others are using digital pathology by reading chapter 7, “Digital Pathology: New Technology Breaks the Distance Barrier,” in the CAP’s ebook, New Paths…New Choices: Pathology in an Era of Advancing Science and Disruptive Health Economics.

The CAP also will host a webcast on Friday, May 17 to provide an overview of the guideline. Registration information will be coming soon. Submit your questions on the guideline in advance of the webcast to center@cap.org no later than May 10.

The CAP Pathology & Laboratory Quality Center (the Center), a forum for developing evidence-based guidelines and consensus recommendations, provided the process for creating the guideline. Liron Pantanowitz, MD, FCAP, led a panel of North American experts in the digital pathology field to develop the recommendations based on collective experiences and an extensive global literature review. The guideline will be updated as appropriate as new evidence-based research becomes available.

The guideline is another tool available to CAP members under the Transformation initiative to help pathologists ensure they can deliver in a changing health care environment and to enable the specialty’s sustainable advantage.

Definiens and Advanced Cell Diagnostics introduce RNAscope SpotStudio^™

Gene expression can be now be measured quantitatively at single-cell resolution and interpreted by pathologists within histopathological context. By bringing objective and accurate quantification to RNA in situ hybridization, Advanced Cell Diagnostics and Definiens provide a framework for a new generation of diagnostic applications.

Sign in for the introductory webinars.

Webinar: April 17, 8am PDT/11 am EDT/5 pm CEST
Automated quantitative RNA in Situ Hybridization with RNAscope
Learn how quantitative RNA in situ hybridization analysis has recently been made possible by the single molecule sensitivity and digital nature of RNAscope® assay technology.

Webinar: May 7, 8am PDT/11 am EDT/5 pm CEST
Empowering Pathologists with an Easy-to-Use Tool for Quantitative Biomarker Analysis
Experience how standardized and objective results from RNA in situ hybridization assays are generated in minutes with an intuitive solution designed for pathologists with no prior training in image analysis.

“I am very excited to have Merrilyn join our leadership team. Merrilyn’s expertise will be key to leverage our leadership position in image and data analysis in Life Sciences into Tissue Diagnostics and Clinical Digital Pathology,“ said Definiens CEO Thomas Heydler. “Merrilyn’s great track record in understanding the marketplace and building businesses will be invaluable for driving Definiens’ Marketing and Commercialization activities.”

Prior to joining Definiens, Dr. Datta served as a senior marketing leader for Life Technologies, a global biotechnology company with customers in the fields of scientific research, genetic analysis and applied sciences, where she specialized in technology commercialization and strategy. Her professional background also includes positions as Chief Content Officer, Services Leader and Gene Regulation BU leader.

“Definiens will take tissue analysis into the 21st century by making the information on histological slides accessible to bioinformatics analysis,” said Dr. Datta. “I’m excited to be a part of the team which will not only provide valuable image understanding to accelerate drug discovery, but which also has a roadmap to fundamentally change clinical practice, advance personalized medicine and improve patient outcomes.”

Dr. Datta is based in southern California and will lead Definiens’ marketing activities from the company’s Carlsbad office.

About Definiens

Definiens is the leading provider of image analysis and data mining solutions for life sciences, tissue diagnostics and clinical digital pathology. Definiens software provides detailed cell-by-cell readouts from target structures on whole tissue slides, and allows the correlation of this information with data derived from other sources. By automating analysis workflows, Definiens helps pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, research institutions, clinical service organizations and pathologists to generate new knowledge and support better decisions in research, diagnostics and therapy. Definiens’ vision is to open new fields of research, to contribute to development of personalized medicine and to significantly improve the quality of patients’ lives.

Definiens is headquartered in Munich, Germany and has a North American office in Carlsbad, California. Further information is available at www.definiens.com.

Media Contact
Definiens AG
Dr Florian Leiss
Manager Marketing Communications
+49 (89) 2311-8024
fleiss@definiens.com

The annual Definiens Symposium is the premier forum to learn about the latest cutting edge applications in quantitative digital pathology and biomedical image and data analysis in

Tissue Diagnostics
Pharma Research and Discovery
Preclinical Safety

Hear how Definiens technology is used in practice to accelerate R&D and discovery of new drugs and biomarkers in automated workflows and how it can be used to innovate new diagnostic tests, increase the success rate of development, reduce time to market and manage the diversity of a broad range of image analysis tasks.

Munich, Germany, March 26, 2013 – Definiens, the global leader of image and data analysis solutions for quantitative digital pathology, today announced it has appointed an Advisory Board comprising renowned industry experts and visionaries in digital pathology. As part of its market expansion strategy, Definiens established the new Board to provide independent advice on trends and opportunities in tissue diagnostics and clinical digital pathology.

Members of the Advisory Board include:

• Ron A. Andrews, President, Medical Sciences, Life Technologies and former CEO of Clarient and CEO of GE Molecular Diagnostics
• Prof. Uwe Bicker, Dean of the Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg and a member of the board of directors of Sanofi SA
• Prof. Manfred Dietel, Director, Institute of Pathology, Charité Berlin and chairman of the German Society for Pathology
• Eric F. Glassy, M.D., Medical Director, Pathology, Inc. and chairman of the Digital Pathology Working Group of the College of American Pathologists
• Prof. Gerd Binnig, Founder and CTO, Definiens (Moderator)

“Definiens is working to advance personalized medicine by contributing to the development of next generation diagnostics, and bringing those novel diagnostics into clinical practice. Our innovations have the potential to transform daily clinical practice for the benefit of both patients and pathologists, particularly in oncology,” said Thomas Heydler, CEO of Definiens. “We will greatly benefit from the wealth of experience of the Advisory Board members while expanding our business into tissue diagnostics and clinical digital pathology.”

As part of its goal to guide Definiens during the company’s expansion, the Advisory Board will discuss trends in digital pathology and highlight opportunities for image and data analysis to revolutionize clinical practice in pathology. Specific topics of discussion will include pathology workflow, tissue diagnostic test development, personalized medicine and next-generation cancer treatment, as well as future technology and market requirements. Definiens founder and Nobel laureate, Professor Gerd Binnig, will catalyze the discussions.

“With the novel opportunities enabled by digital pathology, progress in diagnosing and treating cancer will be accelerated. The visionary power and expertise brought together in the Definiens Advisory Board will be invaluable on our path towards bringing advanced image analysis to clinical pathology,” said Prof. Gerd Binnig, Founder and CTO of Definiens.

About Definiens

Definiens is the leading provider of image analysis and data mining solutions for life sciences, tissue diagnostics and clinical digital pathology. Definiens software provides detailed cell-by-cell readouts from target structures on whole tissue slides, and allows the correlation of this information with data derived from other sources. By automating analysis workflows, Definiens helps pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, research institutions, clinical service organizations and pathologists to generate new knowledge and support better decisions in research, diagnostics and therapy. Definiens’ vision is to open new fields of research, to contribute to development of personalized medicine and to significantly improve the quality of patients’ lives.

Definiens is headquartered in Munich, Germany and has offices throughout the United States. Further information is available at www.definiens.com.

Media Contact
Definiens AG
Dr Florian Leiss
Manager Marketing Communications

+49 (89) 2311-8024
fleiss@definiens.com

N Fusco et al.
HER2 in gastric cancer: a digital image analysis in pre-neoplastic, primary and metastatic lesions
Modern Pathology (2013)

J Ogino et al.
Validity and reproducibility of Ki-67 assessment in gastrointestinal stromal tumors and leiomyosarcomas
Pathology International (2013)

Schittenhelm et al.
Longitudinal Expression Analysis of αv Integrins in Human Gliomas Reveals Upregulation of Integrin αvβ3 as a Negative Prognostic Factor
Journal of Neuropathology & Experimental Neurology (2013)

Wang et al.
RNAscope: a novel in situ RNA analysis platform for formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues
Journal of Molecular Diagnostics (2013)

Beck et al.
Systematic analysis of breast cancer morphology uncovers stromal features associated with survival
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From the editor: It took me a while but I just came across an interesting post by Tim Kulbago on Imaging This: The Blog. I couldn’t agree more but would like to add that this applies just as much to histology as to radiology and cardiology. See below or click here to read the original post.

So you may have seen lately that there’s a lot of buzz going around the industry relative to the concept of “big data” in healthcare. The questions and opinions are varied — what value that may have, what potential it holds to unlock efficiencies, new insights into disease or treatment or operations. I read the “big data” articles with some level of interest because as an imaging industry insider, it causes me to ask an interesting question. Traditionally, the some of the biggest data in the healthcare enterprise have been images. Cardiology and radiology have been producing terabytes and terabytes of images every year, reading them diligently, reporting on them and archiving them. While we think of “big data” in the context of general healthcare, and I think there’s a lot to be said for that, the real question is — what healthcare big data could we potentially find buried inside of these images?

Having been around radiology many years, I’ve noticed that there always seems to be a big-data related conversation that swirling in the background.  And usually it starts out with “If only we could look at or study all the images. If only we had the ability to (fill in your own ideas here)” With so many “if onlys”, it makes you wonder – why hasn’t that happened? Or maybe it has and I’m just not aware of it.  But it seems to me that there is a lot of big data hidden inside the images. Recently at ImageIQ we participated in several retrospective imaging trials. Our clients gather a seriously large number of images for the trial, and we carefully extract the data defined in the study. Then here comes the magical wish list: “We want to ask some other questions of the images that weren’t part of that clinical trial and how do we do that in a cost effective and accurate way?”

So as we look at big data in the healthcare industry, I think it would be interesting for everyone to start considering that we’ve got a lot of big imaging data that’s been collected for decades, or at least probably 20 years of inside radiology and cardiology that might be the first stop in the journey on leveraging big data to help the healthcare enterprise.

Definiens is growing. For our US team we are currently looking for:

Technical Support Engineer (m/f), Carlsbad, (CA/USA)

Application Consultant in Life Sciences (m/f), Boston area (MA, USA)

Field Application Scientist, (m/f), Bay Area or Carlsbad (CA, USA)

Field Application Scientist, (m/f), South Eastern Region (USA)

Visit www.definiens.com/about-definiens/career.html to learn more and to submit your application.

By providing more conclusive results from individual studies more quickly, and by supporting the development of novel tissue biomarkers and the efficient translation of insights between different model systems or phases of drug development, Definiens’ solutions for image and data analysis contribute to shortened drug development times and reduced late-stage attrition. Visit Definiens at the USCAP 2013 annual meeting in Baltimore, March 2-8, at booth 530 to learn more.

Munich, Germany, Mar 5, 2013 – Definiens, the global leader of image and data analysis solutions for quantitative digital pathology, today announced it will host more than 20 distinguished speakers at the 4th International Definiens Symposium, featuring discussions on image and data analysis in digital pathology. The symposium will be held at the Joseph B. Martin Conference Center on Harvard Medical School campus in Boston, MA on May 13-15, 2013.

This annual event will bring together global leading experts from pharmaceutical, biotech and diagnostics companies, as well as academic medical centers to share groundbreaking research and insights on digital pathology. Presenters will highlight how Definiens technology is used in practice to accelerate R&D and discovery of new drugs and biomarkers in automated workflows and how it can be used to innovate new diagnostic tests, increase the success rate of development, reduce time to market and manage the diversity of a broad range of image analysis tasks.

“Definiens is committed to helping researchers and clinicians generate new knowledge that supports personalized medicine and better decisions in research, diagnostics and therapy,” said Thomas Heydler, CEO of Definiens. “Advanced image and data analysis is critical to enhancing diagnostics and clinical digital pathology. We’re thrilled to be working with such an esteemed group of presenters to share knowledge that can lead to improved decision making and better outcomes for patients.”

The symposium will feature plenary talks as well as hands-on workshops to encourage collaboration and the sharing of best practices. Sessions will include:

• Taking Tissue Diagnostics into the 21st Century
• Advancing Drug Development
• Embracing Digital Pathology – The Business Perspective
  (includes panel discussion)

“The Definiens symposium has become a leading forum for discussions on image and data analysis in digital pathology,” said Dr. Thomas Nifong, VP of Clinical Operations, Metamark Genetics. “It provides an important setting for sharing new academic and clinical research and promoting advancements in the industry.”

What: 4th International Definiens Symposium: Empowering Digital Pathology

When: May 13-15, 2013

Who Should Attend: Researchers and clinicians in the life sciences, diagnostic biomarkers and healthcare industries

Where: Joseph B. Martin conference center, Harvard Medical School Campus, Boston, MA, USA

For further details, a list of speakers and to register, please visit: www.definiens.com/community/symposium.html

About Definiens

Definiens is the leading provider of image analysis and data mining solutions for life sciences, tissue diagnostics and clinical digital pathology. Definiens software provides detailed cell-by-cell readouts from target structures on whole tissue slides, and allows the correlation of this information with data derived from other sources. By automating analysis workflows, Definiens helps pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, research institutions, clinical service organizations and pathologists to generate new knowledge and support better decisions in research, diagnostics and therapy. Definiens’ vision is to open new fields of research, to contribute to development of personalized medicine and to significantly improve the quality of patients’ lives.

Definiens is headquartered in Munich, Germany and has offices throughout the United States. Further information is available at www.definiens.com.

Media Contact
Definiens AG
Dr Florian Leiss
Manager Marketing Communications

+49 (89) 2311-8024
fleiss@definiens.com

Learn more on Definiens’ vision for the future of healthcare and experience leading image and data analysis for digital pathology. Visit Definiens at the USCAP 2013 annual meeting in Baltimore, March 2-8, at booth 530. There will also be an interesting educational seminar held by the DPA (see below).

“We are very pleased that Professor Huss is assuming the role of the Chief Medical Officer for Definiens. Professor Huss’ expertise will be invaluable in further strengthening Definiens’ leading role in quantitative digital pathology for life science research, tissue diagnostics development and clinical routine,” said Thomas Heydler, CEO of Definiens. “We’re thrilled to have a highly regarded industry luminary consult the leadership team who will build upon Definiens’ expertise in pathology following the closure of a recent financing round.”

Professor Huss has more than 20 years of training and experience in histopathology and cancer research, and served previously as Global Head of Histopathology and Tissue Biomarker at Roche Diagnostics, where he was involved in identifying new tissue biomarkers to stratify cancer patients as part of a global Personalized Healthcare strategy. Professor Huss also co-founded the biotech company APCETH for which he remains a member of the management team. In addition Professor Huss holds national and international academic appointments at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich (Germany) and the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (USA).

“I am very pleased to advise Definiens and support the outstanding work the company is doing in the field of clinical digital pathology,” said Professor Huss. “Novel tissue diagnostics will be essential in bringing the vision of personalized medicine to fruition. Definiens leadership position in Image and Data Analysis in Life Sciences is a perfect starting point to advance the development of tissue and companion diagnostics, and to ultimately offer ground breaking solutions for Clinical Digital Pathology. I am very much looking forward to contributing to the company’s growth and innovation in the role of Chief Medical Officer.”

About Definiens

Definiens is the leading provider of image analysis and data mining solutions for life sciences, tissue diagnostics and clinical digital pathology. Definiens software provides detailed cell-by-cell readouts from target structures on whole tissue slides, and allows the correlation of this information with data derived from other sources. By automating analysis workflows, Definiens helps pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, research institutions, clinical service organizations and pathologists to generate new knowledge and support better decisions in research, diagnostics and therapy. Definiens’ vision is to open new fields of research, to contribute to development of personalized medicine and to significantly improve the quality of patients’ lives.

Definiens is headquartered in Munich, Germany and has offices throughout the United States. Further information is available at www.definiens.com.

Media Contact
Definiens AG
Dr Florian Leiss
Manager Marketing Communications

+49 (89) 2311-8024
fleiss@definiens.com

Huw B Jones et al.
Quantitative Histopathological Assessment of Retardation of Islets of Langerhans Degeneration in Rosiglitazone-dosed Obese ZDF Rats Using Combined Insulin and Collagens (I and III) Immunohistochemistry with Automated Image Analysis and Statistical Modeling
Toxicologic pathology (2012)

A Bénardeau et al.
Effects of the dual PPAR-α/γ agonist aleglitazar on glycaemic control and organ protection in the Zucker diabetic fatty rat
Diabetes, obesity & metabolism (2012)

Joseph G Reynolds et al.
HER2-targeted liposomal doxorubicin displays enhanced anti-tumorigenic effects without associated cardiotoxicity
Toxicology and applied pharmacology (2012)

Kay A Criswell et al.
Pregabalin induces hepatic hypoxia and increases endothelial cell proliferation in mice, a process inhibited by dietary vitamin E supplementation
Toxicological sciences (2012)

Dolores Diaz et al.
Phosphorous dysregulation induced by MEK small molecule inhibitors in the rat involves blockade of FGF-23 signaling in the kidney
Toxicological sciences 125, 1 (2012)

David B Shackelford et al.
LKB1 Inactivation Dictates Therapeutic Response of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer to the Metabolism Drug Phenformin
Cancer Cell (2013)

Han Li et al.
p27Kip1 Directly Represses Sox2 during Embryonic Stem Cell Differentiation
Cell Stem Cell (2012)

Benjamin Schattling et al.
TRPM4 cation channel mediates axonal and neuronal degeneration in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis and multiple sclerosis
Nature Medicine (2012)

Daniel Schramek et al.
The stress kinase MKK7 couples oncogenic stress to p53 stability and tumor suppression
Nature Genetics (2011)

Ivana Nikić et al.
A reversible form of axon damage in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis and multiple sclerosis
Nature Medicine  (2011)

Munich, Germany/Hayward, California, USA, Feb 12, 2013 – Definiens and Advanced Cell Diagnostics (ACD) today unveiled the details of the RNAscope SpotStudio image analysis software to attendees at the Molecular Medicine Tri-Conference meeting in San Francisco, USA. The software has already been sold to a top pharmaceutical company and a leading academic medical center under an early access program. This advanced image analysis solution brings objective and accurate quantification to RNA in situ hybridization and enables a new generation of diagnostic applications based on single cell analysis. For the first time, gene expression can be measured quantitatively at single-cell resolution and interpreted by pathologists within histopathological context.

Empowering Pathologists with an Easy-to-Use Tool for Quantitative Biomarker Analysis
Quantitative RNA in situ hybridization analysis has recently been made possible by the single molecule sensitivity and digital nature of RNAscope® assay technology. However, manual scoring is time consuming and prone to subjectivity and poor reproducibility. RNAscope SpotStudio software is designed for pathologists with no prior training in image analysis. It is an intuitive automated solution that generates standardized and objective results in minutes. Testing has shown that results obtained with RNAscope SpotStudio are comparable to careful manual annotations by pathologists. The software is compatible with image data from whole slide scanners and microscopes.

“In situ biomarker analysis tools such as immunohistochemistry (IHC) have been limited to subjective semi-quantitative scoring. RNAscope and the SpotStudio image analysis software take in situ biomarker analysis to a whole new level, where quantitative data at the single cell level can be obtained and interpreted within the histopathological context of the clinical specimen”, said Yuling Luo, Founder, President and CEO of ACD. “RNAscope combines the advantages of IHC and PCR, making it a superior tool for tissue-based diagnostics and companion diagnostics”, Dr. Luo added. “Definiens’ invaluable expertise with tissue image analysis made it an ideal partner for the joint development of RNAscope SpotStudio.”

“Coming from a leading position in providing image analysis solutions to the life sciences market, Definiens is rapidly expanding its footprint in tissue diagnostics. We are very excited about this partnership with ACD representing a great example of advanced diagnostic solutions based on Definiens image and data analysis capabilities that will drive next generation diagnostics to truly enable personalized medicine”, said Thomas Heydler, CEO of Definiens.

Definiens and ACD will showcase RNAscope SpotStudio at the Molecular-Med Tri-Con in San Francisco (booth 210). The solution will be marketed and distributed by ACD and is currently being distributed to selected customers in an early access program. General availability is planned for the second quarter of 2013.

While RNAscope Spot Studio supports the analysis of brightfield images, RNA FISH assays can be quantified with Definiens Tissue Studio. With over 450 deployed licenses, Definiens Tissue Studio is the leading image analysis solution for digital pathology. Beyond the detection of spot-like stains, Definiens Tissue Studio provides morphological and molecular expression profiles from any solid tissue (IHC and IF) on a cell-by-cell basis.

About Definiens
Definiens is the leading provider of image analysis and data mining solutions for life sciences, tissue diagnostics and clinical digital pathology. Definiens software provides detailed cell-by-cell readouts from target structures on whole tissue slides, and allows the correlation of this information with data derived from other sources. By automating analysis workflows, Definiens helps pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, research institutions, clinical service organizations and pathologists to generate new knowledge and support better decisions in research, diagnostics and therapy. Definiens’ vision is to open new fields of research, to contribute to development of personalized medicine and to significantly improve the quality of patients’ lives.

Definiens is headquartered in Munich, Germany and has offices throughout the United States. Further information is available at www.definiens.com.

About Advanced Cell Diagnostics
Advanced Cell Diagnostics, Inc. (ACD) is a leader in the emerging field of molecular pathology, developing cell- and tissue-based research tools for all areas of biomedical research, and diagnostic tests for personalized medicine. The company’s products and services are based on its proprietary RNAscope® technology, the most sensitive method available for RNA ISH, and the first quantitative and fully automated platform enabling multiplex fluorescent and chromogenic RNA biomarker analysis. ACD partners with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to validate biomarkers for targeted therapeutic development in cancer and other diseases. These partnerships provide the foundation for ACD to develop companion diagnostic tests in conjunction with partners’ targeted therapeutics. ACD also pursues internal programs to develop proprietary diagnostic tests in cancer management. Learn more about ACD and RNAscope technology at www.acdbio.com.

Media Contacts
Definiens AG
Dr Florian Leiss
Manager Marketing Communications
+49 (89) 2311-8024
fleiss@definiens.com

Advanced Cell Diagnostics
Steve Chen, PhD
Chief Operating Officer
+1 (510) 259-9802
schen@acdbio.com

New Perspective on Tissue: Converting Complexion into Action
February 11-12, 2013, Moscone North Convention Center, San Francisco, California, USA.

Pathology studies structural and functional mechanisms of disease, making it the cornerstone of medical science. An array of innovative technologies is rapidly transforming the field of pathology and tissue analysis. Alongside these technological advances, we are also witnessing an expansion in pathology applications, both in the pharmaceutical industry and in the clinic. The second annual Next Generation Pathology symposium is designed to bring together pathologists and tissue analysis specialists working in the industry as well as in healthcare settings. The program will present solutions and case studies for various tissue analysis applications and will feature a broad array of novel technologies.

In particular, we recommend the following presentation held by our partner Yuling Luo, Founder, President & CEO, Advanced Cell Diagnostics, Inc.

TITLE: Ultrasensitive RNA in situ Hybridization for Tissue Diagnostics
SPEAKER: Yuling Luo, Ph.D., Founder, President & CEO, Advanced Cell Diagnostics, Inc.
PRESENTATION TIME: 2:30 pm, February 11th