Ann Arbor-based Accuri Cytometers Inc. Monday announced the commercial launch of its first product, the Accuri C6 Flow Cytometer System, designed to bring the power of previously very expensive flow cytometry cell analysis to the laboratory of every life sciences researcher.

The Accuri C6 is a bench-top system that delivers performance and features similar to those of the market-leading flow cytometers, yet it is easy even for novice users to set up and operate. The radical redesign that produced the Accuri C6 has also made possible a dramatic reduction in price, with the system selling for a fraction of the cost of most flow cytometers, which run $100,000 to $150,000.

The list price of Accuri is $40,000, and there's an academic discount that brings the price at universities down to $35,000.

Accuri says it's able to perform the same science so much cheaper because its devices are designed new from the ground up with a price cap in mind -- rather than competitors' devices, designed with "step evolution" from flow cytometers first introduced more than 30 years ago.

The Accuri device has several innovations in optics and electronics, including patented technologies.

Flow cytometers tell researchers about the properties of cells, providing crucial information about the presence and quantity of various proteins on the cell surface, which is useful information to medical researchers. It also provides information about DNA disruption in cells, key information in whether or not a potential new cancer drug will work or will have undesirable side effects on normal cells.

The Accuri C6 Flow Cytometer System is a full-featured, two-laser, six-detector analytical system that includes the C6 Flow Cytometer, CFlow Software and a PC. The C6 Flow Cytometer System has detectors to capture both forward and side-scattered light, as well as four fluorescent detectors equipped with user-replaceable optical filters. The operating software is designed to make data collection and analysis fast and hassle-free.

"Our goal in creating the Accuri C6 System was to produce a high- performance cell analysis system that could bring the power of flow cytometry into the labs of life sciences researchers everywhere," said Jennifer Baird, CEO of Accuri. "We believe that the system we are commercially launching today achieves that ambitious goal. Developed by an interdisciplinary team with no pre-conceived ideas about flow cytometry, the C6 combines novel technology and software with simplicity of design and high-quality components to achieve performance similar to the leading flow cytometers, but with true ease-of-use, a bench-top footprint and a price affordable by virtually any laboratory."

Accuri completely redesigned the hardware, user interface and analysis software of the C6 system with input from both researchers who use flow cytometry on a regular basis and those whose use have been limited by lack of access. The company teamed with Ann Arbor-based software firm Menlo Innovations, which brought its unique, award-winning methods to the development of the Accuri system's easy-to-use analysis software, a critical component of the approach. Accuri's innovations, coupled with its state of the art components, result in a cytometer that is powerful, robust, compact and affordable. The C6 Flow Cytometer works with all existing reagents and protocols, making the transition from current flow cytometers seamless.

"As a biomedical scientist I am acutely aware of how important flow cytometry is for my lab's research, yet the wait for access to a flow cytometer was often a major bottleneck to our progress," said Dr. Peter Smith, a researcher at Innovative BioTherapies, a biotechnology company developing a wearable artificial kidney. "I was therefore eager to serve as an early evaluator for the Accuri C6 Flow Cytometer System. Imagine my delight when, as a less experienced user, I was able to have the system running experiments within an hour of taking it out of the box. The hands-off simplicity and ease-of-use of the C6 system are liberating. The ability to conduct high- quality flow cytometry analyses simply and inexpensively whenever we need them will have a positive impact on the productivity of our lab."

Among the first major biomedical research institutions already using the Accuri C6 Flow Cytometer System are the University of California at San Francisco, Harvard University, the Medical University of South Carolina, the University of Michigan, the University of New Mexico and the University of Pittsburgh.

Accuri's chief commercial officer Jack Ball noted, "Initial response to the C6 Flow Cytometer System has been extremely encouraging, reflecting the pent-up demand for accessible, high-performance cell analysis tools in our initial target market -- researchers currently using flow cytometers but frustrated by access limitations. Early access beta test users have been very positive, and every researcher we speak with reports that a flow cytometer that delivers on our performance specifications and is easy-to-use would find ready acceptance in their labs. With this formal market launch, we now look forward to fulfilling that demand."

More at www.accuricytometers.com.