MilliporeSigma Introduces MILLIPLEX® High Sensitivity Panel for Faster, More Economical Cytokine Assays

• Product offers smaller sample volumes and four times higher throughput than traditional assays

Billerica, Massachusetts, December 2, 2016 — MilliporeSigma today launched the MILLIPLEX® MAP Human High Sensitivity cytokine panel for faster and more cost-effective human cytokine assays. The new panel allows researchers to achieve four times higher throughput than traditional assays while using smaller sample sizes.

The new assay is the first 384-well kit for use with the Luminex FLEXMAP 3D® platform. Researchers can now simultaneously measure multiple protein biomarkers in a single sample, collecting up to 366 data points per plate in the same time it would take to run a 96-well plate. The new kit delivers high specificity and sensitivity and requires less than 10 µm of sample.

“The availability of validated 384-well kits is an important new tool for customers with limited sample volumes who require high throughput, specificity and selectivity,” said Jason Apter, Head of Research Solutions Strategic Marketing & Innovation, MilliporeSigma. “Simply put, researchers with limited sample volumes will get more results, faster.”

Rush Medical College’s laboratory has been using customized designed 384-well assays on the Luminex FLEXMAP 3D® system for nearly two years.

“Now that MilliporeSigma is offering off-the-shelf assay kits, we expect to run even more assays in this format, which will help expedite our research,” said Jeffery Borgia, Assistant Professor, Rush Medical College.

Assays help researchers identify and quantify soluble proteins and peptides that play an important role in the immune system and its response to antigens, as well as disease states such as inflammatory disease, allergic reactions, irritable bowel disease, sepsis and cancer.

The new MILLIPLEX® MAP Human High Sensitivity cytokine panels expand MilliporeSigma’s existing portfolio of immunoassays for human cytokines, essential tools for academic centers, contract research organizations and biotech/pharma companies.

About the Life Science Business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
The life science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, which operates as MilliporeSigma in the U.S. and Canada, has 19,000 employees and 65 manufacturing sites worldwide, with a portfolio of more than 300,000 products enabling scientific discovery. Udit Batra is the global chief executive officer of MilliporeSigma.

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany completed its $17 billion acquisition of Sigma-Aldrich in November 2015, creating a leader in the $125 billion global life science industry.

Merck KGaA of Darmstadt, Germany is a leading company for innovative and top-quality high-tech products in healthcare, life science and performance materials. The company has six businesses – Biopharmaceuticals, Consumer Health, Allergopharma, Biosimilars, Life Science and Performance Materials – and generated sales of €12.85 billion in 2015. Around 50,000 employees work in 66 countries to improve the quality of life for patients, to foster the success of customers and to help meet global challenges.

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany is the world’s oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company – since 1668, the company has stood for innovation, business success and responsible entrepreneurship. Holding an approximately 70 percent interest, the founding family remains the majority owner of the company to this day. Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany holds the global rights to the name and the trademark “Merck” internationally except for the United States and Canada, where the company operates as EMD Serono, MilliporeSigma and EMD Performance Materials.