Sony : Introduces Innovative New Fluorescent KIRAVIA Dyes™ Enabling Higher Brightness Reagents for the Life Science Segment

Tokyo, Japan - March 12, 2020 - Sony Corporation ('Sony') today announced the launch of KIRAVIA*1Dyes™, a new family of fluorescent dyes, for use in reagents for a wide range of life science applications. Fluorescent reagents are used to study the characteristics of tissues and cells in the life sciences fields, such as immunology and regenerative medicine. KIRAVIA Dyes are now available to reagent suppliers.

The KIRAVIA Dyes are organic polymers that have fluorescent dyes loaded precisely on a novel organic polymer backbone developed by Sony, based on proprietary technology. The monomers of the backbone are polymerized, using an automated synthesizer, at the time of production.

This polymer structure is designed to enable an increase in brightness by mitigating the quenching phenomenon between adjacent dyes on the backbone by controlling the distance between dyes. Increasing the number of dyes along the backbone results in brighter polymers.

Figure shows a cell with surface antigens to which the antibodies can bind.The structure of the KIRAVIA dyes allow for the fluorescence to be precisely positioned to allow for high fluorescence.

Since this backbone is compatible with many types of dyes on the market, a variety of reagents are expected to be developed in the future. The technology enabling multicolor cell analysis with dozens of colors has recently been demonstrated in the research field through flow cytometry and other imaging applications, and KIRAVIA dyes are expected to enhance available solutions.

Sony plans to provide KIRAVIA Dyes to multiple reagent suppliers in the life science market that have strong antibody portfolios to best utilize them for a variety of applications. While the KIRAVIA Dyes were initially developed for flow cytometry*2research applications, they can also support imaging applications such as microscopy.

Antibody reagents conjugated to KIRAVIA Dyes will also be introduced by Sony, starting this Spring.

'Sony has been engaged in the flow cytometry business in the life science field since 2010 and has commercialized various flow cytometers,' said Kenji Otaka, Head of Medical Business Group. 'We will further strengthen our solution through the KIRAVIA Dyes and strive to deliver social value through our contribution to the life science field'.

• *1:KIRAVIA is a coined word meaning 'sparkling' in Japanese.
• *2:'Flow cytometry' is a technique to optically analyze cell counts and information about the interior and exterior of cells (size, structure, biomarkers, etc.). Flow cytometers are machines comprised of sorters, which isolate target cells for study, and analyzers, used primarily when observing cells.
• *KIRAVIA Dyes™ is a trademark of Sony Corporation
• *Other company and product names used herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.