NanoString Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:NSTG), a leading provider of life science tools for translational research and molecular diagnostic products, today announced the publication of a collaborative study with the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard entitled “A rapid and accurate method to determine antibiotic susceptibilities based on simultaneous detection of genotype and phenotype” that demonstrates the potential for the Hyb & Seq™ technology to transform infectious disease testing. NanoString and the Broad Institute have entered into a non-exclusive license agreement for intellectual property related to pathogen enrichment, highly sensitive pathogen detection and identification, and phenotypic antibiotic susceptibility determination (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-019-0650-9).

Current culture-based methods for antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) are too slow to inform key clinical decisions. While genotypic assays hold promise, they do not reliably predict antibiotic susceptibility. In a study led by Deborah Hung, M.D., Ph.D., and Core Member of the Broad Institute, investigators demonstrate a rapid assay using the Hyb & Seq technology to classify pathogens as antibiotic susceptible or resistant in less than four hours. By coupling machine learning analysis of quantitative early transcriptional responses to antibiotic exposure with simultaneous detection of key genetic resistance determinants, the AST assay demonstrated 94-99% accuracy. The study shows proof-of-concept that an assay for combined genotypic and phenotypic AST through RNA detection can be deployed directly on a positive blood culture bottle with a simple workflow.

“Rapid and accurate pathogen identification and antibiotic susceptibility testing are essential to improved patient outcomes,” said Brad Gray, president and CEO of NanoString. “This research demonstrates that it may be possible to use our Hyb & Seq technology to achieve these objectives in less than four hours.”

NanoString has been collaborating with the laboratories of Dr. Hung and Dr. Jongyoon Han, Ph.D., of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to advance this technology since 2015. The results of this collaboration were first presented at the Association for Molecular Pathology conference in 2018, and subsequently were published in peer-reviewed articles in Scientific Reports and Nature Medicine. Under this non-exclusive licensing agreement with the Broad Institute, NanoString acquired the rights to manufacture and commercialize the Broad Institute technology, to enable pathogen identification and antibiotic susceptibility from diverse samples such as whole blood across a broad number of organisms.

Interested parties can learn more about Hyb & Seq by visiting: https://www.nanostring.com/scientific-content/technology-overview/hyb-seq

About NanoString Technologies, Inc.

NanoString Technologies is a leading provider of life science tools for translational research and molecular diagnostic products. The company’s nCounter® Analysis System is used in life sciences research and has been cited in more than 2,800 peer-reviewed publications. The nCounter Analysis System offers a cost-effective way to easily profile the expression of hundreds of genes, proteins, miRNAs, or copy number variations, simultaneously with high sensitivity and precision, facilitating a wide variety of basic research and translational medicine applications, including biomarker discovery and validation. The company’s GeoMx™ Digital Spatial Profiler enables highly-multiplexed spatial profiling of RNA and protein targets in a variety of sample types, including FFPE tissue sections. The company's technology is also being used in diagnostics. The Prosigna® Breast Cancer Prognostic Gene Signature Assay together with the nCounter Dx Analysis System is FDA 510(k) cleared for use as a prognostic indicator for distant recurrence of breast cancer.

For more information, please visit www.nanostring.com.

NanoString, NanoString Technologies, the NanoString logo, GeoMx, Hyb & Seq, nCounter and Prosigna are trademarks or registered trademarks of NanoString Technologies, Inc. in various jurisdictions.

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include statements regarding the potential of Hyb & Seq technology to enable rapid and accurate antibiotic susceptibility testing. Such statements are based on current assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, include the potential for Hyb & Seq technology to accurately and quickly determine antibiotic susceptibilities, and the ability of NanoString to successfully commercialize such technology, as well as the other risks set forth in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. NanoString Technologies disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.