Biological Dynamics, a privately held San Diego-based company, is poised to revolutionize exosome/extracellular vesicle (EV) isolation and enrichment by addressing current research challenges and ultimately driving new liquid biopsy advancements. Biological Dynamics has developed an automated bench-top device, ExoVerita Pro, that uses alternating current electrokinetics (ACE) (see details below) to separate exosomes/EVs from other material in small samples of plasma (50-250 µL). The platform offers a simple and automated workflow to enrich exosomes and EVs, bypassing many fundamental limitations of current isolation technologies. This technology is superior to the current exosome/EV separation methods such as ultracentrifugation and column purification in terms of purity and reproducibility and in process time, reducing it from days to hours.
The ExoVeritaProplatform is built upon the company’s patent-protected Verita™ technology, which uses an ACE chip to gently capture exosomes in biofluids, such as whole blood, serum, and plasma, enabling downstream analysis, including proteomics and genomics. The enriched exosomes can reveal new information to advance research, diagnostics, and therapeutic development.
Biological Dynamics equips scientists with the right tools to help unlock the information exosomes carry, leading to solutions for early disease detection for a wide range of diseases, including cancer, Alzheimer’s Disease, and infectious diseases such as tuberculosis.
One example is the promising use of exosomes in the early detection of pancreatic cancer. Often referred to as a “silent killer,” pancreatic cancer is typically discovered in about 80% of patients in its late stages, by which time it has spread, and surgery is no longer viable. Biological Dynamics’ pilot study focused on developing a blood-based biomarker classifier using circulating EVs, including exosomes, for the early detection of pancreatic cancer. The company’s ACE technology platform used in the study allowed for more efficient exosome isolation from a blood sample, leading to a 95.5% detection rate of stage I pancreatic cancer. A recent study expanded upon these findings.
A complete list of Biological Dynamics’ peer-reviewed published papers validating the effectiveness of technologies is found here and recent company news is found here.
Alternating Current Electrokinetics Technology
The key technology underlying the novel ExoVerita platform is briefly described on the company website. See excerpts below.
Verita Technology
Biological Dynamics’ patented, proprietary semi-conductor-based technology uses alternating current electrokinetics (ACE) for isolation of exosome and extracellular vesicles from biofluids, such as whole blood, plasma and serum. ACE involves three forces: dielectrophoresis, AC electrothermal flow, and AC electroosmosis. The platform is unique in its use of a direct-to-analyte approach for exosome isolation. This approach removes the need for lengthy sample prep or dilution required by other platforms, resulting in isolation time dropping from days to hours with minimal force and damage to membranes, high yield, and high purity.
How ACE Works
The ExoVerita platform uses ACE to create an electronic size-based band-pass filtercapable of inducing a dipole on particles of interest and attracting them to specific locations on a microelectrode array. The platform uses digital fluorescence microscopy to measure the relative concentration of isolated nanoparticles of interest.
The ACE filter is generated using a specific voltage/frequency algorithm and microelectrode array geometry. It isolates particles of interest based on their relative 3D conformation in a fluid matrix and pulls them to specific locations on a microelectrode array.
The Biological Dynamics team is using the technology to create platforms for developing diagnostic assays that detect biomarkers, such as cell-free DNA, exosomes, exo-proteins, and other cellular particles.
Unique Capabilities of the ExoVerita Platform
- No sample prep, no dilution. Broad access to highly valuable blood-based biomarkers in an unprocessed state. The platform isolates nanoparticles in high-conductivity solutions, such as unprocessed whole blood, serum, and plasma.
- Co-detection of multiple classes of biomarkers in the same sample (Examples: cell-free DNA and exosomal proteins)
- Radically simplified workflow enables commercially viable multi-omic testing for many applications: sample-to-answer assays, small sample sizes (50-250 µL for detection assays), quick turnaround, and minimal hands-on time.
BioQuick News Meets with Biological Dynamics Executives
On February 23, 2024, BioQuick News met with Biological Dynamics executives Heath Balcer, PhD, Senior Director Strategic Marketing, and Michael Nall, Chief Commercial Officer, to discuss the exciting new technology described above.