VERIGENE System
Rapid, Multiplex Molecular Testing at the Point-of-Care
Problem
Rapid and accurate disease diagnosis is essential for guiding treatment decisions, improving patient outcomes, and helping prevent the spread of infectious diseases. Traditional diagnostic approaches, including culture-based methods and single-target molecular tests, can require hours to days to produce results, delaying appropriate therapy and clinical intervention. As healthcare providers increasingly seek faster and more comprehensive diagnostic tools, there is a growing need for platforms capable of detecting multiple disease markers simultaneously from a single patient sample.
Solution
Developed by Nanosphere, the VERIGENE® System is a sample-to-result molecular diagnostics platform designed to provide rapid, multiplexed detection of infectious pathogens and disease-associated biomarkers. Powered by spherical nucleic acid (SNA)-based technology, the system can simultaneously identify multiple genetic targets from a single patient specimen, enabling comprehensive diagnostic testing in a streamlined workflow.
At the core of the platform are gold nanoparticle-based SNA probes that selectively bind to specific DNA or RNA sequences with high sensitivity and specificity. This approach enables accurate molecular detection while reducing the time required to generate clinically actionable results.
Our discovery of spherical nucleic acids (SNAs), nanostructures with particle cores and DNA shells, revealed a powerful new way to detect disease with greater speed, sensitivity, and accuracy; the VERIGENE system brings that vision into the clinic, equipping physicians with earlier, more precise diagnostic insight to guide care.”
— Chad Mirkin, PhD
Professor of Chemistry
Benefits
- Rapid Turnaround: Delivers results in hours rather than days.
- Multiplex Capability: Detects multiple targets in a single test.
- Ease of Use: All reagents come ready to use, and setup time is less than five minutes for all tests.
- Versatility: Broad menu of assays for rapidly detecting pathogens and resistance markers for bloodstream, respiratory, and gastrointestinal infections.
Technology & Commercialization Status
The VERIGENE® System is based on spherical nucleic acid (SNA) diagnostic technology originally developed by Weinberg Professor Chad Mirkin and the late Weinberg Professor Robert Letsinger. The platform relies on gold nanoparticle-based SNA probes that bind to specific DNA sequences in a gene chip format, enabling highly accurate and sensitive disease detection at or near the point of care. A novel signal amplification strategy based on gold-catalyzed silver deposition, combined with waveguide-based optical detection, further enhances assay sensitivity. Mirkin’s pioneering research in nanotechnology, bioassay design, and nanoparticle-enabled diagnostics laid the scientific foundation for Nanosphere, Inc., the molecular diagnostics company he founded to commercialize the technology.
Nanosphere translated this Northwestern-originated research into the VERIGENE® platform, creating one of the earliest commercially successful molecular diagnostic systems built on nanotechnology. The platform enabled rapid, multiplexed detection of infectious diseases and other clinically relevant targets, helping bring advanced molecular testing closer to the point of care.
A major commercialization milestone occurred in 2016, when Nanosphere was acquired by Luminex Corporation. The technology subsequently became part of DiaSorin’s molecular diagnostics portfolio, expanding its global reach and integration into broader diagnostic testing workflows.
Northwestern Inventor
Chad A. Mirkin, PhD
Director of the International Institute for Nanotechnology
George B. Rathmann Professor of Chemistry
Weinberg College of Arts and Science