Collaboration to unify NanoString’s best-in-class spatial biology platforms with Visiopharm’s AI-driven image analysis capabilities to enable integrated end-to-end workflows for translational research studies.

NanoString Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: NSTG), a leading provider of life science tools for discovery and translational research, and Visiopharm, a world leader in AI-driven digital pathology software, today announced a collaboration to accelerate the discovery of novel biomarkers and drug targets using the latest spatial imaging and machine learning technologies. Together, NanoString and Visiopharm are developing integrated workflows leveraging the multiplexing capability of the GeoMx® Digital Spatial Profiler (DSP) and the AI-driven image analysis capabilities of Visiopharm. NanoString’s new cloud informatics platform, the AtoMx™ Spatial Informatics Platform, will enhance the integration by providing scalable computing power with worldwide access.

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GeoMx Digital Spatial Profiler tissue image with tumor/stroma AOIs superimposed. (Graphic: Business Wire)

Integrating Visiopharm’s Oncotopix® Discovery software into the GeoMx DSP workflow will enhance and simplify sample processing for translational research applications. Researchers can leverage Visiopharm’s AI algorithms to analyze four-color fluorescent images generated on GeoMx as well as associated images using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining, to better understand the number and type of cells within DSP profiling regions. The combination of these technologies is expected to accelerate biomarker discovery and validation with in situ whole transcriptome and high-plex protein analysis.

Additionally, NanoString and Visiopharm will maintain file format compatibility that enables researchers to analyze GeoMx DSP whole-slide images with the Visiopharm software, providing access to a rich toolset for pathologic and spatial analysis including cell counts, phenotype mapping, distance measures, and more, which can be used to enhance and validate the high-plex spatial molecular data.

“At NanoString, our vision is to map the universe of biology, and we are excited this strategic collaboration will allow us to offer our researchers new insights by combining the results from whole-slide image analysis and high-plex spatial molecular analysis,” said John Gerace, chief commercial officer, NanoString. “Our compatible solutions will enable a new frontier in discovery and provide deeper biological insights advancing the field of digital pathology.”

“Visiopharm is committed to transforming pathology through AI-based tissue mining, and this collaboration will combine the power of 20 years of expertise in pathology image analysis with high-plex spatial molecular analyses,” said Louise Armstrong, chief commercial officer, Visiopharm. “Spatial biology is one of the fastest growing areas of research, and this collaboration will enable a deeper understanding of the spatial high-plex and whole-transcriptome data that GeoMx delivers.”

Arutha Kulasinghe, Ph.D., National Health and Medical Research Council Research Fellow, University of Queensland, will showcase integrated workflows at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) annual meeting in November 2022. He will present predictive signatures for immunotherapy response identified in head and neck cancer utilizing high-plex spatial profiling.

About Visiopharm A/S

Visiopharm® is a world leader in AI-driven precision pathology software. Visiopharm’s pioneering image analysis tools support thousands of scientists, pathologists, and image analysis experts in academic institutions, biopharmaceutical industry, and diagnostic centers. AI-based image analysis and tissue mining tools support research and drug development research worldwide, while CE-IVD APPs support primary diagnostics. With highly advanced and sophisticated artificial intelligence and deep learning, Visiopharm delivers tissue data mining tools, precision results, and workflows. Visiopharm was founded in 2002 and is privately owned. The company operates internationally with over 780 user accounts and countless users in more than 40 countries. The company headquarters are in Denmark’s Medicon Valley, with offices in Sweden, England, Germany, Netherlands, and the United States. https://visiopharm.com

About NanoString Technologies, Inc.

NanoString Technologies, a leader in spatial biology, offers an ecosystem of innovative discovery and translational research solutions, empowering our customers to map the universe of biology. The GeoMx® Digital Spatial Profiler, cited in more than 160 peer-reviewed publications, is a flexible and consistent solution combining the power of whole tissue imaging with gene expression and protein data for spatial whole transcriptomics and proteomics from one FFPE slide. The CosMx™ Spatial Molecular Imager (SMI) is an FFPE-compatible, single-cell imaging platform powered by spatial multiomics enabling researchers to map single cells in their native environments to extract deep biological insights and novel discoveries from one experiment. The AtoMx™ Spatial Informatics Platform (SIP) is a cloud-based informatics solution with advanced analytics and global collaboration capabilities, enabling powerful spatial biology insights anytime, anywhere. The CosMx SMI and AtoMx SIP platforms are expected to launch in 2022. At the foundation of our research tools is our nCounter® Analysis System, cited in more than 6,200 peer-reviewed publications, which offers a secure way to easily profile the expression of hundreds of genes, proteins, miRNAs, or copy number variations, simultaneously with high sensitivity and precision. For more information, visit www.nanostring.com.

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