Measuring What Proteins Do,
Not Just Whether They're There
HAWK Biosystems and ScientiaLux are bringing functional biomarker technology from the physics lab to the oncology clinic—giving clinicians a molecular-level view of drug-target interactions in patient tissue.
Expression testing leaves oncologists guessing
Current companion diagnostics count how much of a protein is present—its expression level. But expression alone cannot reveal whether that protein is actually functioning: whether a checkpoint receptor is bound to its ligand, whether a kinase is phosphorylated, whether two molecules are close enough to interact.
The result is a biomarker gap. Up to 42% of lung-cancer patients are miscategorized by PD-L1 expression testing. Patients who would benefit from immunotherapy are denied it; others receive treatments that will not help them. The missing information is function—and that is what our technology measures.
Two organizations, one mission
Our partnership combines deep physics expertise with commercial reach, delivering laboratory-grade FLIM-FRET measurement to clinical and research settings worldwide.
HAWK Biosystems
HAWK develops the QF-Pro functional biomarker platform—from reagent chemistry to optical instrumentation to analysis software. The company builds on over a decade of FLIM-FRET research to translate laboratory physics into clinical-grade diagnostic tools.
ScientiaLux LLC
ScientiaLux is the U.S. partner for HAWK Biosystems, providing commercial operations, technical support, and distribution coordination across the Americas. ScientiaLux works directly with clinical laboratories, research institutions, and distribution partners to bring QF-Pro technology to market.
The QF-Pro platform
QF-Pro is an integrated system for measuring protein–protein interactions in fixed tissue. Three components work together to deliver quantitative functional biomarker data from standard FFPE sections.
QF-Pro Reagent Kit
Antibody-conjugated fluorophore pairs engineered for FRET. Applied to standard FFPE tissue sections on glass slides.
Violet 3.0
Purpose-built FLIM microscope that captures fluorescence lifetime images at clinical throughput. Measures nanosecond-scale decay shifts caused by FRET.
QF-Pro Software
Analysis platform that converts lifetime maps into quantitative FRET efficiency scores, producing functional biomarker readouts per cell.
Peer-reviewed clinical results
QF-Pro functional biomarkers have been validated in multiple cancer types, with published evidence demonstrating superior predictive power compared to expression-based testing.
31 vs 10 months median survival
QF-Pro PD-1/PD-L1 activation score separated responders from non-responders in anti-PD-1 treated melanoma patients.
42% of patients miscategorized by expression
PD-L1 expression failed to predict outcomes. Functional measurement by iFRET correctly stratified the same cohort.
P = 0.002 for activation vs survival
PKB/Akt activation measured by FLIM-FRET predicted progression-free survival where expression testing showed no association.
35 vs 8 months with dual biomarkers
Combining PD-1/PD-L1 and CD80/CTLA-4 functional scores improved patient stratification beyond single-marker testing.
Learn More
Explore the science behind functional biomarkers or get in touch with our team.