FRANKLIN LAKES, N.J., Feb. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) (NYSE: BDX), a leading global medical technology company, today announced an early access program for the BD Resolve(TM) Single-Cell Gene Expression platform that has the flexibility to capture and analyze hundreds to tens of thousands of individual cells in a broad range of sizes and types.

The platform includes reagents that can analyze both the whole transcriptome and targeted or custom-designed gene-specific panels. When paired with the BD FACSMelody((TM)) flow cytometer for cell sorting and enrichment, unwanted cells can be removed to both improve data accuracy and reduce sequencing costs.

"We are studying the regulation of processes in the kidney, which have customarily been challenging to do with current technologies," said Dr. Vivek Bhalla, assistant professor of medicine (nephrology) at the Stanford University Medical Center. "Our early work with the BD Resolve platform has allowed us to sequence single cells from multiple samples at the same time, radically saving us on cost and time. The level of precision is also orders of magnitude better. It's not an overstatement - we are advancing our work far beyond what we could do before."

Single-cell genomics stands to offer new developments in several fields including immunology, oncology, immune-oncology and developmental biology, but conventional methods for isolating nucleic acids from an individual cell can present technical challenges and be financially limiting. Researchers are often left needing to compromise on performance, workflow simplicity and cell throughput (due to cost of sequencing).

"BD has more than 30 years of experience in single-cell analysis through its cell sorting and enrichment platforms - approaches that are a natural complement for next-generation sequencing," said Stephen Gunstream, vice president of BD Genomics. "We have created a workflow that can enrich for viable cells of interest, improve cell-type resolution, and significantly reduce extraneous downstream costs due to unnecessary single-cell sequencing."

The BD Resolve early access program and introduction at the Advances in Genome Biology and Technology (AGBT) conference accompanies the release of the new whole-genome protocol for the BD CLiC(TM) library prep instrument. This new protocol fully automates processes traditionally done manually. With the new protocol, the BD CLiC platform prepares libraries with 1/5th of the input mass and at 20 to 50 percent reduced cost per sample.

BD plans full commercial launch of the BD Resolve platform by early fall 2017.

Meet BD at the AGBT conference to learn more about the BD Resolve platform and the Difference of One:

    --  Attend the BD workshop on Tuesday, Feb. 14, at Noon in the Grand
        Ballroom
    --  Visit the BD Genomics gallery in Room #319 to see Data in New
        Dimensions: Convergence of Art, Genomics and Bioinformatics
    --  Join events spotlighting the impact of BD Genomics technologies,
        including multiple symposia and posters

BD Resolve and BD CLiC platforms are currently available for research use only and not for diagnostic or therapeutic use. For more information, contact BD at +1 650.665.2400.

About BD
BD is a global medical technology company that is advancing the world of health by improving medical discovery, diagnostics and the delivery of care. BD leads in patient and health care worker safety and the technologies that enable medical research and clinical laboratories. The company provides innovative solutions that help advance medical research and genomics, enhance the diagnosis of infectious disease and cancer, improve medication management, promote infection prevention, equip surgical and interventional procedures, and support the management of diabetes. The company partners with organizations around the world to address some of the most challenging global health issues. BD has more than 40,000 associates across 50 countries who work in close collaboration with customers and partners to help enhance outcomes, lower health care delivery costs, increase efficiencies, improve health care safety and expand access to health. For more information on BD, please visit bd.com.

    Contacts:

    Troy Kirkpatrick        Monique N. Dolecki

    BD Public Relations     BD Investor Relations

    858.617.2361            201.847.5378

    troy.kirkpatrick@bd.com monique_dolecki@bd.com

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SOURCE BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company)