Sysmex and Clearbridge BioMedics have partnered to jointly develop a new liquid biopsy system.

Clearbridge BioMedics’ microfluidics and cell separation technologies will be used in the development of the system.

The joint development collaboration will bring together Sysmex’s worldwide leadership in haematology diagnostics and expertise in developing liquid biopsy assays with Clearbridge’s domain knowledge in microfluidics for the enrichment of rare cells.

The cells are expected to potentially lead to a new product line to complement Sysmex’s existing suite of haematology analysers.

The alliance follows on from the companies working relationships in the past few years, where they evaluated technologies and respective intellectual properties, and concluded that there is considerable synergies.

Sysmex managing board member and senior executive officer, managing director and head of research and technology development Kaoru Asano said: "Liquid biopsy and cancer diagnostics is an important focus area for Sysmex. Clearbridge BioMedics has demonstrated their unique and versatile cell separation technologies.

"We look forward to working together again and further innovating through our Sysmex Open Innovation Lab platform, which aims to encourage open innovation through global collaborations."

Clearbridge BioMedics allows real-time liquid biopsy using a label-free circulating tumour cell enrichment platform.

It is a National University of Singapore (NUS) / Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) spin-off firm that plans to revolutionize cancer diagnostics and patient care.