Patrick , Luminex Corporation1

Austin - TX United States

The big idea: In 25 words or less, please tell us how this Fast 50 Nominee is helping to address the planet's problems.

Pat is leveraging Luminex’s xMAP Technology to significantly enhance scientific research and clinical diagnostics to improve health, safety, and quality of life for people worldwide.

Please describe how this nominee is using business as a force of positive change. What technology, idea, or strategy is the nominee using -- and what problem, such as global warming, poverty, or pollution, does it address? (suggested length: 100 words)

Since its founding, Luminex Corporation has sought to have a positive impact on the health, safety and quality of life of people around the world.

The company’s foundational multiplexing xMAP Technology platform allows scientists and researchers to conduct multiple, simultaneous tests on one patient sample. It provides scientists quick and accurate results, saving significant time and resources.

When Pat Balthrop joined Luminex as President and CEO in 2004, the company had a significant footprint in the life sciences marketplace but had not yet explored the full potential of xMAP Technology in other areas. The company was in need of a growth strategy that would increase adoption of xMAP Technology among a broader array of scientists, researchers and clinicians.

Pat created a strategic plan for Luminex that reached beyond its original business model. He pursued partnerships with market leaders throughout scientific research and clinical diagnostics, launched an aggressive internal effort to create innovative applications for xMAP Technology, and sought acquisitions that could expand Luminex’s product portfolio and market reach in molecular diagnostics.

Today, as a result of Pat’s strategy, Luminex is executing its mission to significantly improve the health, safety and quality of life of people worldwide. xMAP Technology is the most widely accepted multiplexing technology available. Luminex does not consider itself as simply an instrument or assay provider, but rather as a company that provides complete solutions in life sciences research and clinical diagnostics.

Across the science and healthcare continuum, xMAP Technology is assisting clinicians, researchers and scientists in diverse arenas, including:

- Creating next-generation tests for cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and tuberculosis
- Preventing organ rejection in transplant patients
- Detecting genetic disease in newborns
- Improving the diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of infectious diseases
- Enhancing food safety
- Monitoring animal health
- Remediating coastal pollution
- Developing new biodefense tests

Recent xMAP Technology innovations and developments include:

• xTAG™ RVP. Luminex’s xTAG Respiratory Viral Panel (RVP), which received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in January 2008, is changing the way respiratory viral infections are diagnosed and monitored. In a matter of hours from a single patient sample, this unique test can detect the 12 viruses and subtypes – from the common cold, to the flu, to the potentially deadly adenovirus – that together are responsible for more than 85 percent of respiratory viral infections. xTAG RVP is the first test of its kind to receive FDA 510(k) clearance. It is a significant breakthrough for physicians, public health officials and patients as it allows for more specific diagnosis of respiratory illnesses, improves patient care, reduces healthcare costs, curtails overuse of antibiotics, and enhances virus surveillance.

• FlexmiR™ Select. FlexmiR Select is enabling the next generation of microRNA research. Understanding the relationships between microRNAs and their targets can lead to improved understanding of disease. This idea has generated particular interest in the field of cancer, where it is hoped that microRNAs will be key to controlling the disordered processes of cellular proliferation. Most microRNA studies begin with very broad panel screens that help researchers identify specific microRNAs of interest. However, there are few products that allow for analysis and validation of smaller subsets of microRNAs. FlexmiR Select allows researchers to create customized microRNA panels. These flexible, customized panels assist in more efficient, focused, and cost-efficient microRNA analysis and thus more streamlined experiments. FlexmiR Select has the potential to push microRNA research forward quickly and facilitate the resulting data’s ability to become a useful diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic tool for the medical community.

• Ovarian Cancer Testing. Yale University has developed a new xMAP-based test for early-stage ovarian cancer screening. Often called “the silent killer,” ovarian cancer is notoriously difficult to detect because the disease tends to hide, triggering few noticeable symptoms until it's so far advanced it's difficult to control. The survival rate for women with the disease detected in the early stages can be as high as 90 percent, but, if not diagnosed early, the survival rate drops to only 20 percent. The new test developed by Yale allows doctors to screen women for six different ovarian cancer biomarkers at once, resulting in higher than 95% sensitivity and higher than 99% specificity for the detection of early-stage ovarian cancer. Being able to detect early stage ovarian cancer will enable physicians to save the lives of countless women.

• Tuberculosis Testing. Researchers at the University of California, Davis are using xMAP Technology to develop a faster, more accurate, and cost-effective method that is portable to be deployed in remote, rural areas of the world for diagnosing tuberculosis. Funded by a two-year grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the project is supporting the transfer of this multiplexing technology to Pakistan, which has the sixth-highest incidence of TB in the world. To significantly slow the spread of TB in places like Pakistan, infection must be detected at its earliest stage. The multiplexing approach of the xMAP-based test will enable hundreds of tests to be conducted per day, which will help identify infection quickly and stop the progression of widespread disease.

• Alzheimer’s Disease Testing. Luminex’s partner Innogenetics is developing a test to identify and measure biomarkers which indicate the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Using Luminex’s xMAP Technology, Innogenetics has developed a blood test for several Alzheimer biomarkers. New diagnostic tools to help detect Alzheimer's as early as possible are vitally important to physicians, patients, and families affected by the disease. Earlier, more reliable diagnostic tools also will help those who are testing new therapies to establish appropriate treatment groups (e.g., people expected to develop Alzheimer's versus those who will not) and give them the means to monitor the effectiveness of candidate treatments.

Luminex is continuing to search for new applications for xMAP Technology. The company’s scientists have 63 patents published and 177 patents pending. In addition to its own development work, Luminex is continuing to establish collaborations with industry leaders across various markets. For example, in early 2008, the company began a partnership Tyson Foods to improve food safety and animal health monitoring.

What are the results, both financial and social? How has the nominee's business performed, and what impact has it had on the problem it addresses? (suggested length: 100 words)

Luminex’s xMAP Technology is transforming research and healthcare. The unique ability of xMAP Technology to efficiently and accurately provide more information to researchers and clinicians than has previously been possible enables these scientists to create innovative approaches to research and patient treatment.

Luminex’s performance has grown and evolved as its xMAP Technology has gained wider acceptance in the market. Since 2004, the company’s revenues have increased from $35.9 million to $75 million. The company has placed more than 5,000 instruments in clinics and laboratories worldwide and its xMAP Technology platform is the backbone for more than 40 FDA-cleared tests.

Comments that readers have made about this submission: