News for Leica BOND-III

User Validated Prostate Marker Cocktail - P504S (Red) and HMW CK (DAB). Digital image captured using the Leica SCN400 Slide Scanner

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The first fully automated one-step detection system allowing the co-visualization of mouse and rabbit antibodies on a single slide

Leica Microsystems announced today the availability of Leica ChromoPlex™ 1 Dual Detection for BOND, the first fully automated one-step detection system allowing the co-visualization of mouse and rabbit antibodies on a single slide. Same day diagnosis is now easier to achieve when compared with the two-step sequential or semi-automated processes currently available on competitive IHC advanced stainers. Developed for use with commercial and self-validated cocktails, ChromoPlex delivers the intense staining and clear background that BOND users currently enjoy from Leica’s Compact Polymer technology.

“When tissue is limited and diagnostic decisions are needed, the most effective use of tissue sections becomes imperative” comments Konstantin Fiedler, Vice President of Advanced Staining for Leica Microsystems. “The turnaround times achievable with our new ChromoPlex range open the door to faster patient management, while maintaining the diagnostic confidence pathologists demand to make the right decisions. Laboratories can choose antibodies from different sources, ensuring the most effective combinations of antibodies to aid diagnosis can always be used”.

“The dual staining obtained using the ChromoPlex 1 detection system is attractive, crisp and consistent; ideal when assessing challenging prostatic biopsies,” states Dr Geoffrey Hulman MD FRCPath, Consultant Histopathologist at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, where the detection technology was evaluated in cooperation with the Nottingham Health Science Biobank. Dr Claire Hawkes PhD, CSci comments that “historically, we encountered problems with dual staining and efforts to stain up commercial cocktails have been largely unsuccessful. The ChromoPlex 1 detection system, however, enables quick easy staining of both commercial and in-house home-brew cocktails, with excellent results.”

ChromoPlex 1 Dual Detection is a biotin-free, polymeric horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-linker and polymeric alkaline phosphatase (AP)-linker antibody conjugate system for the detection of tissue-bound mouse and rabbit IgG primary antibodies. The small multifunctional linkers enhance tissue penetration, producing high sensitivity. The excellent contrast between the Fast Red and DAB chromogens allows for easy antigen differentiation.

ChromoPlex 1 Dual Detection for BOND is intended for staining sections of formalin fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue for use on Leica BOND-MAX and BOND-III automated IHC staining systems. It can be used simultaneously with both Novocastra BOND Polymer Refine and Polymer Refine Red Detection, allowing unparalleled flexibility in staining protocols and workflow efficiency.

ChromoPlex 1 Dual Detection for BOND will be available for sale from December 1, 2011 in the United States of America, Canada, and the European Union.

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Leica Microsystems is a world leader in microscopes and scientific instruments. Founded as a family business in the nineteenth century, the company’s history was marked by unparalleled innovation on its way to becoming a global enterprise.

Its historically close cooperation with the scientific community is the key to Leica Microsystems’ tradition of innovation, which draws on users’ ideas and creates solutions tailored to their requirements. At the global level, Leica Microsystems is organized in four divisions, all of which are among the leaders in their respective fields: the Life Science Division, Industry Division, Biosystems Division and Medical Division.

Leica Microsystems’ Biosystems Division, also known as Leica Biosystems, offers histopathology laboratories the most extensive product range with appropriate products for each work step in histology and for a high level of productivity in the working processes of the entire laboratory.

The company is represented in over 100 countries with 12 manufacturing facilities in 7 countries, sales and service organizations in 19 countries and an international network of dealers. The company is headquartered in Wetzlar, Germany.

The Trust has recently installed a total of 10 new Leica BOND systems, offering increased throughput and improved staining consistency for a wide range of assays

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111114_PR_Imperial_College_de_08.doc

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The Trust has recently installed a total of 10 new Leica BOND systems, offering increased throughput and improved staining consistency for a wide range of assays

Wetzlar Germany / London, UK. Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust has one of the largest immunohistochemistry / in situ hybridization (IHC / ISH) workloads in the United Kingdom, performing almost 120,000 IHC slides a year. The Trust has selected Leica Microsystems’ BOND platform to provide advanced IHC and ISH staining capabilities for cellular pathology services at its Hammersmith, Charing Cross and St Mary’s Hospital sites. These hospitals are integrated with the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College London, rated in 2011 as a top 10 global university by Times Higher Education in conjunction with Thomson Reuters.

The Trust has recently installed a total of 10 new Leica BOND systems, offering increased throughput and improved staining consistency for a wide range of assays. Donna Horncastle, Laboratory Manager for Cellular Pathology at Hammersmith Hospital, explained: “Cellular pathology services within the Trust are split across three separate laboratories, with each site covering a range of specialties. In order to standardize our practices – as well as to provide a more consistent approach to servicing and support across all laboratories – we wanted to switch to fully automated immunostaining for both routine and research IHC and ISH. Following a comprehensive tender process, Leica Microsystems was able to offer the best solution for our needs, combining good staining quality with high throughput.”

“Installation of the BOND instruments has gone very smoothly in all three laboratories, with only minimal disruption to service provision during the changeover, and we have been very impressed with the staining quality of the platforms. These systems also offer considerable efficiency savings – allowing staff time to be used more effectively – and we no longer rely on batch processing of samples, therefore improving turnaround times and streamlining our workflow.”

The Leica BOND family has offered continued advancements to anatomical pathology laboratories since its introduction to the IHC market. Founded on the principles of superior detection sensitivity, workflow optimization and user flexibility in menu adoption, the BOND family is firmly established as an industry leading platform for immunohistochemistry. Coupled with a comprehensive menu of Novocastra antibodies and companion diagnostic products for HER2 IHC and HER2 FISH, the BOND systems provide the flexibility, quality and gold standard menu option required by an academically leading facility such as Imperial College.

Chris Rhoades, Global Product Manager - BOND Instrumentation, commented: “We are thrilled to have been chosen by Imperial College NHS Trust and look forward to working with them in the continued delivery of cost-effective and efficient clinical and research services.”

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Leica Microsystems is a world leader in microscopes and scientific instruments. Founded as a family business in the nineteenth century, the company’s history was marked by unparalleled innovation on its way to becoming a global enterprise.

Its historically close cooperation with the scientific community is the key to Leica Microsystems’ tradition of innovation, which draws on users’ ideas and creates solutions tailored to their requirements. At the global level, Leica Microsystems is organized in four divisions, all of which are among the leaders in their respective fields: the Life Science Division, Industry Division, Biosystems Division and Medical Division.

Leica Microsystems’ Biosystems Division, also known as Leica Biosystems, offers histopathology laboratories the most extensive product range with appropriate products for each work step in histology and for a high level of productivity in the working processes of the entire laboratory.

The company is represented in over 100 countries with 12 manufacturing facilities in 7 countries, sales and service organizations in 19 countries and an international network of dealers. The company is headquartered in Wetzlar, Germany.

Leica BOND Software Update

BDZ_v35-BOND-Update.zip

v35 - Relevant for software version 4.0 and above

IMPORTANT

• This Leica BOND data update v35 is relevant for BOND software versions 4.0 and above only. 

• This data update cannot be applied to earlier versions of the Bond software. 

Please contact your local Leica Sales or Support representative to obtain the latest version.

The company is headquartered in Wetzlar, Germany.

Joint Sales, Research and Development

Beijing, China / Wetzlar, Germany. China Medical Technologies, Inc. (CMED) (Nasdaq: CMED), a leading China-based advanced in-vitro diagnostic (“IVD”) company, and Leica Biosystems, a division of Leica Microsystems, a world leader in microscopes and scientific instruments, today announced that they have established a sales, research and development collaboration to co-develop and market automated FISH kits to be used on the Leica BOND system. CMED will sell the Automated FISH Kits in China and Leica will have an option to sell the FISH kits in the rest of the world.

Under the collaboration, CMED and Leica Microsystems will jointly develop automated FISH solutions for tissue sample tests on HER-2, EGFR and TOP2A on the Leica BOND system, an automated advanced staining platform. HER-2, EGFR and TOP2A are genes in connection with the targeted cancer therapy drugs for breast cancer, lung cancer and stomach cancer patients. Automation of these FISH tests on the Leica BOND system will enable pathology laboratories and independent service laboratories to run these diagnostic tests more efficiently and with higher and more consistent quality. The automation of FISH tests will also help users to reduce the work load pressure created by increasing test volumes. Both parties agreed to add further FISH applications into the collaboration during the term, including for cytology and pre-natal applications.

“These collaborations with Leica mark a significant milestone for us,” commented Mr. Xiaodong Wu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CMED. “We believe that FISH applications will be more widely used in various clinical applications on automated basis in the future. By partnering with Leica, one of the leading global players anatomic pathology, we can provide more efficient and higher quality FISH diagnostic solutions to the end users not only in China, but also in the global markets through Leica’s extensive global network.”

“CMED is the market leader for FISH based diagnostics in China and has played a key role in the rapid development in the use of FISH in China, especially for tissue based companion diagnostic testing. This partnership will help Leica and CMED to offer customers in China a broad test menu of high quality FISH tests automated on the Leica BOND system,” commented Arnd Kaldowski, President of Leica Biosystems.

• Press Release Collaboration Leica CMED (English)
• Press Release Collaboration Leica CMED (German)

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Leica Microsystems is a world leader in microscopes and scientific instruments. Founded as a family business in the nineteenth century, the company’s history was marked by unparalleled innovation on its way to becoming a global enterprise. Its historically close cooperation with the scientific community is the key to Leica Microsystems’ tradition of innovation, which draws on users’ ideas and creates solutions tailored to their requirements. At the global level, Leica Microsystems is organized in four divisions, all of which are among the leaders in their respective fields: the Life Science Division, Industry Division, Biosystems Division and Medical Division.

Leica Microsystems’ Biosystems Division, also known as Leica Biosystems, offers histopathology laboratories the most extensive product range with appropriate products for each work step in histology and for a high level of productivity in the working processes of the entire laboratory.

The company is represented in over 100 countries with 12 manufacturing facilities in 7 countries, sales and service organizations in 19 countries and an international network of dealers. The company is headquartered in Wetzlar, Germany.

China Medical Technologies, Inc. is a leading China-based advanced IVD company using molecular diagnostic technologies including Fluorescent in situ Hybridization (FISH) and Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) and an immunodiagnostic technology, Enhanced Chemiluminescence Immunoassay (ECLIA), to develop, manufacture and distribute diagnostic products used for the detection of various cancers, diseases and disorders as well as companion diagnostic tests for targeted cancer drugs. The Company generates all of its revenues in China through the sale of diagnostic consumables including FISH probes, SPR-based DNA chips and ECLIA reagent kits to hospitals which are recurring users of the consumables for their patients. The Company sells FISH probes and SPR chips to large hospitals through its direct sales force and ECLIA reagent kits to small and mid-size hospitals through distributors.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements constitute “forward-looking” statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as “expects,” “anticipates,” “future,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates” and similar statements. Among other things, the quotations from management in this press release contain forward-looking statements. Such statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its annual report on Form 20-F. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable law.

Contacts:
Leica Microsystems
Dr. Kirstin Henze
Tel.: +49 – 6441 – 29 – 2550
Email: Kirstin.henze@leica-microsystems.com

China Medical Technologies, Inc.
Sam Tsang and Winnie Yam
Tel: +852 - 2511 - 9808
Email: IR@chinameditech.com
http://www.chinameditech.com/

Leica BOND-III wins 2011 MDEA

Innovative design that provides results 50% faster than previous-generation instruments

Melbourne, Australia. The Leica BOND-III instrument, a fully automated immunohistochemistry (IHC) and in situ hybridization (ISH) staining system used in cancer and infectious diseases diagnosis, has been awarded the prestigious Medical Design Excellence Award (MDEA) for its innovative design that provides results 50% faster than previous-generation instruments.

The MDEA competition is the premier worldwide awards program for the medical technology community. It recognizes the achievements of medical device manufacturers and suppliers who are responsible for creating innovative products that are changing the face of healthcare.

Leica BOND-III uses unique automation systems and advanced software to significantly reduce protocol run times, achieve high throughput and improve laboratory efficiency. Together, these advances help laboratories deliver critical results sooner and at lower costs. Chris Rhoades, Global Product Manager for Leica BOND Systems said, “Waiting for test results can be stressful for patients. By reducing this time, the Leica BOND-III instrument reduces the anxiety of patients and their families, and enables quicker access to the correct treatment for life threatening diseases.”

Designed for Lean Histology, the Leica BOND-III instrument helps diagnostic laboratories facing increased pressure to process greater numbers of patient samples with no corresponding budget or staff increases. The labor savings afforded by Leica BOND-III automation free technicians to perform other tasks while decreased run times allow additional tests to be performed each day. Leica BOND-III further improves laboratory operation by reducing maintenance, waste disposal costs and environmental impact. Also, by providing the ideal mix of scheduling flexibility and case organization, the system’s unique three-tray continuous processing capability helps optimize laboratory workflow. Combined, these benefits help laboratories meet increasing workloads using existing resources while both saving time and reducing costs.

The MDEA will be officially presented in a ceremony at the Medical Design & Manufacturing East 2011 Conference and Exposition in New York in June 2011. Representatives from Leica Microsystems and their design partner Invetech will be present to receive the award.

• Press Release Leica BOND-III MDEA Award (English)
• Press Release Leica BOND-III MDEA Award (German)

• View the picture gallery

Leica Microsystems is a world leader in microscopes and scientific instruments. Founded as a family business in the nineteenth century, the company’s history was marked by unparalleled innovation on its way to becoming a global enterprise.

Its historically close cooperation with the scientific community is the key to Leica Microsystems’ tradition of innovation, which draws on users’ ideas and creates solutions tailored to their requirements. At the global level, Leica Microsystems is organized in four divisions, all of which are among the leaders in their respective fields: the Life Science Division, Industry Division, Biosystems Division and Medical Division.

Leica Microsystems’ Biosystems Division, also known as Leica Biosystems, offers histopathology laboratories the most extensive product range with appropriate products for each work step in histology and for a high level of productivity in the working processes of the entire laboratory.

The company is represented in over 100 countries with 12 manufacturing facilities in 7 countries, sales and service organizations in 19 countries and an international network of dealers. The company is headquartered in Wetzlar, Germany.