Olink Proteomics announces a new oncology-focused biomarker panel that expands its protein library to over 1100 high-quality assays

Uppsala, Sweden, December 13, 2018 – Olink Proteomics today announced the launch of Olink® ONCOLOGY III, a new oncology-focused biomarker panel that complements and expands on Olink's growing portfolio of thoroughly validated assays, extending the power of the Olink platform for discovery-scale applications to 1164 different human protein biomarkers. This panel also complements and strengthens Olink’s existing offering in the cancer area, providing 184 established and exploratory markers in two panels aimed at oncology applications.

The panel enables simultaneous measurement of 92 proteins using just 1 µL of primarily plasma or serum, as well as other types of human sample. The assays include a combination of exploratory and established markers with a focus on cancer and related biological processes. The established cancer-associated proteins include Cell surface A33 antigen (GPA33), B-cell receptor CD22 (CD22), Pro-neuropeptide Y (NPY), Allograft inflammatory factor 1 (AIF1), Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 (FLT1). The 92 assays in the panel cover a range of disease types and biological processes relevant for oncology, including carcinogenesis, tumor progression, solid tumors and recurrent tumors.

“We are delighted to be able to offer this new panel, which expands and complements our existing offering for scientists who would like to look at a broader range of potential biomarker proteins in their oncology studies.

Biomarker research in the cancer field has focused very much on genomic approaches such as SNP analysis and whole genome sequencing etc. More recently there has been a clear trend towards systems biology approaches that combine technologies such as genomics, metabolomics, cytometry and proteomics. To give researchers the best possible chance to understand complex, dynamic cancer pathophysiology, evaluate treatment regimens and develop better and more targeted drugs, we see a clear need for more protein biomarkers, which this new panel will help to address.

We can now offer two oncology-focused panels, along with our dedicated panel for cancer immunotherapy applications, demonstrating our commitment to provide the oncology field with the protein biomarker tools they need to better understand biology and speed up the development of effective drugs in order to drive precision medicine.”

says Annica Pontén, Product Life Cycle Manager at Olink Proteomics.

Product and technology information
Each Olink panel offers high-throughput multiplex immunoassays that measure 92 proteins simultaneously using only one microliter of serum, plasma, tumor cell lysate, or almost any other type of biological sample. Thousands of samples per week can be analyzed using these panels, which greatly accelerates the speed of protein biomarker discovery. Based on a library of more than 1100 human proteins, Olink panels are now very well-established in clinical research, with more than 800 000 samples analyzed world-wide and over 200 peer-reviewed publications now in the literature.

Olink’s assays are based on the proprietary Proximity Extension Assay (PEA) technology developed by Olink. PEA is a homogeneous assay that uses pairs of antibodies equipped with DNA reporter molecules which upon target binding give rise to new DNA amplicons, each ID-barcoding their respective antigens. Cross-reactive events are not detected since the sequence design allows only the correctly matched antibody pairs to give rise to a signal. The amplicons are subsequently quantified by high throughput real-time PCR. This dual recognition, DNA-coupled method provides exceptional readout specificity and enables the panels to achieve a combination of high multiplexing level and data quality that cannot be matched using standard immunoassay techniques. An animation overviewing how the technology works and what it is used for can be viewed on Olink’s YouTube channel.

For research use only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.