STMicroelectronics and Veredus Laboratories set up a joint lab to develop future biomedical and diagnostics applications.

What does one of the world's largest semiconductor companies have to do with diagnostics? In one word: VereFlu™. In March 2008, STMicroelectronics (ST) and diagnostics company, Veredus Laboratories, announced the commercial availability of VereFlu™, a portable lab-on-chip application for the swift and easy detection of all major influenza viruses at the point of need.

What makes this application revolutionary is that, unlike current diagnostic methods, VereFlu™ can detect infection in a subject with a high degree of accuracy and sensitivity, providing genetic information about the infection within two hours, instead of weeks needed in traditional methods. It is also highly automated, which means that users do not have to be in the lab to conduct the tests; it can be done at any point of need - whether in schools, offices, airports or even remote outposts.

ST and Veredus have also set up a joint lab known as Bio-Application Lab, where their respective experts will collaborate on further development of new biomedical applications of VereFlu™. Located in Singapore Science Park, the lab presently has 15 staff made up of Singaporeans, Italians and Japanese - all experts in their fields - but this will likely increase to 50 in two to three years.


Revolutionary collaboration

It began almost two and a half years ago when ST and Veredus started discussions on combining ST's In-Check™ lab-on-chip platform with bio-application capability.

According to Francois Guibert, Corporate Vice President and CEO, Asia Pacific, ST, "ST's long-standing experience and manufacturing background in microfluidic devices are ideally suited for applications in the biomedical field where quality, repeatability and economies of scale are required." The company had already created bio-applications such as miniaturised drug delivery systems, implantable sensors and genomic microarrays.

In VereFlu™, two powerful molecular biological applications have been integrated in a lab-on-chip the size of a fingernail for the first time in the market. Like a miniature lab, ST's In-Check™ platform allows users to accurately and reliably process and analyse minute patient samples - human blood, serum or respiratory swabs - on a single disposable thumbnail-sized chip. The best part is that because the VereFlu™ chip is a plug-and-play diagnostic device, it requires minimum operator training.

"ST sees new high growth opportunities in the healthcare market," says Guibert. "The combination of ST's historical strengths in technology and Veredus' leading position in molecular biology will help accelerate our joint success in the field of molecular diagnostics. This is another demonstration of ST’s commitment to innovation as well as social responsibility."

Currently, VereFlu™ can identify and differentiate human strains of Influenza A and B viruses, including the Avian Flu strain H5N1, in a single test. "VereFlu™ will enable healthcare professionals to effectively monitor mutations of flu viruses and quickly identify the main strain of the season," says Dr Rosemary Tan, CEO, Veredus Laboratories. "This unique capability can significantly increase the effectiveness of flu vaccination and reduce public health risks associated with the emergence of a new flu virus."

In addition, ST and Veredus are optimistic about using VereFlu™ in future application areas like other infectious diseases, cancer, oncology and heart disease markers.


Singapore's biomedical hub

When it came to finding a location for the Bio-Application Lab, the Republic was an obvious choice. "As the gateway to ASEAN and Asia, and situated at the confluence of China and India, Singapore is in a strategic position," Guibert reveals. "Also with SARS and avian flu prevalent in this part of the world, it makes sense to set up a lab where the action is."

Another important factor is the biomedical hub in Singapore. The city-state already has more than eight diagnostics companies including Attogenix, Bio-Rad, Roche, Siemens Diagnostics, Si-Mems, Sysmex, QIAGEN, Veredus, and with Biopolis, a conducive infrastructure and environment have been designed for diagnostics and biomedical research. Apart from diagnostics companies, Biopolis also attracts public research institutes and biomedical sciences research centres.

Diagnostics companies can tap on the innovative technologies developed in Singapore's public sector research institutes. In the past, Veredus has worked extensively with the National University of Singapore (NUS) on dengue fever, Genomic Institute of Singapore (GIS) on avian flu, and Institute of Molecular Cell Biology (IMCB) on malaria. In such a fertile research environment, diagnostics companies have easy access to collaborative research partnerships.

With the city-state's strong multi-disciplinary capabilities, which are complementary to diagnostics, these types of research collaborations and partnerships are set to increase. "The STMicroelectronics-Veredus joint lab is a good example of how a company can bring together Singapore's semiconductor processing and assay development expertise to forge a win-win partnership to capture the infectious disease diagnostics market," says S Iswaran, Minister of State, Trade and Industry, at the opening of the joint lab. "Through this partnership, ST will be able to diversify its portfolio of activities with the addition of the new bio-mems business unit, while Veredus will be able to tap on a cost-effective and proven semiconductor platform to launch its new products."

With a trend towards personalising medicine, especially prescribing the right dose of the right medicine for the right patient at the right time, diagnostics represents a rapidly growing industry. This is also driven by the growing number of middle-class households and Asia's rapidly ageing population, which increases the demand for healthcare services that in turn raises healthcare costs.

The launch of VereFlu™ is timely; it means early detection and treatment of disease, which helps save costs and lives. What could be more revolutionary than that?