Volition
Volition 14 10 192023

Nu.Q® Capture

Capturing and concentrating samples for more accurate diagnosis.

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Locating the needle in a haystack.

Human blood is a mixture of many different cell types floating in a complex soup of proteins and other molecules, including nucleosomes released by cells from all around the body.

Detecting a handful of cancerous or other abnormal cells in a patient’s blood sample has historically been like finding a proverbial needle in a haystack. Volition’s Nu.Q® Capture technology essentially silences the background noise, thereby amplifying the signal. This sample enrichment tool removes healthy nucleosomes, leaving an enriched sample of abnormal nucleosomes behind for further analysis. These nucleosomes contain tumor-specific DNA “typos”, epigenetic changes, and other biomarkers that when analysed could potentially be used to diagnose a specific type of cancer or other medical condition, guide treatment selection, and monitor disease and treatment progress.

Deploying Nu.Q® Capture as the first blood sample processing step could potentially:

  • Enhance the sensitivity of subsequent Nu.Q® immunoassays for diagnosing and monitoring different types of disease using our proprietary Nucleosomics™ platform.

  • Aid the development of improved diagnostic DNA sequencing methods.

  • Serve as a quality control tool to reduce the rate of clinical test failure, saving time that is especially valuable for people whose test results are being used to inform their treatment.

  • Aid the discovery of new biomarkers.

“Our technology sheds new light on epigenetic changes that cannot be effectively detected amid the noise left behind when using current testing methods, leading to better clinical tests and potentially improved outcomes in the future. We’re engaged in multiple research collaborations with academic labs working at the cutting edge of their respective fields, to ensure we take advantage of the latest findings and turn them into new clinical tools as quickly as possible.”

Dr. Terry Kelly, Chief Innovation Officer, Volition