Zyomyx Launches its Protein Chip System: Why Measure Genes, When You Could Measure Actual Cytokines?

Plenty of companies have tried to commercialize protein chips, but it's been very hard to do. Zyomyx believes it has overcome problems that flummoxed others. It has just launched a chip--and specialized reader system--that measures 30 human cytokines. In essence, the chip is a standard sandwich assay, only miniaturized. Zyomyx is hoping its ease of use will encourage people to test for cytokines in phases of drug discovery and development where that's never been possible before. The company believes that measuring proteins that are actually present at a given point in time, versus genes that may or may not be influential, will be of immediate practical value.