In translational research today, multi-omics is no longer a concept — it’s an expectation. Genomics and transcriptomics reveal what could happen; proteomics shows what is happening at the protein level; and metabolomics offers the most immediate snapshot of cellular activity. Together, these layers create a richer understanding of disease mechanisms, therapeutic response, and patient stratification.
Yet metabolomics has historically lagged behind other technologies when it comes to access to clinically relevant samples. Fresh or frozen tissues were required, making many real-world collections — especially formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues — effectively off-limits. That gap is closing fast.
With TissueBank™ FFPE Metabolomics, Panome Bio has extended advanced metabolomics into FFPE tissue, unlocking one of the largest untapped resources in biomedical research.
Opening the Door to the World’s Largest Sample Archive
Hospitals, academic centers, and biobanks have amassed millions of FFPE blocks, each tied to pathology reports, patient outcomes, and therapeutic histories. These samples have already powered decades of histological and molecular discoveries.
TissueBank FFPE Metabolomics makes it possible to explore those archives retrospectively, revealing functional signatures linked to disease biology, treatment response, or progression. A breast cancer cohort collected 15 years ago, for example, can now be revisited to uncover metabolic pathways associated with long-term remission or relapse. Rare tumor samples or irreplaceable pediatric biopsies gain a new lease on scientific life.
Beyond Legacy Metabolomics: Discovery Without Boundaries
Legacy metabolomics are often limited by fixed libraries — curated lists of known metabolites that must be targeted in advance. These approaches are powerful for hypothesis-driven work but blind to the unexpected.
Panome Bio’s Next-Generation Metabolomics platform was designed for discovery first. Its untargeted workflows cast a wide net, capable of detectiong >280,000 small molecules in a single analysis. Applied to FFPE tissues, this capability empowers researchers to map uncharted biochemical space: novel intermediates, off-pathway metabolites, or biomarker candidates that only appear when disease, treatment, and patient heterogeneity are examined together.
Building Truly Integrated Molecular Profiles
With TissueBank FFPE Metabolomics, metabolomics no longer sits apart from other -omics. Panome Bio’s industry-leading bioinformatics can integrate data from the same FFPE block including:
- Genomics: inherited and somatic variation
- Transcriptomics: gene expression programs
- Proteomics: protein abundance and modifications
- Metabolomics: dynamic biochemical activity
Layering these datasets delivers a 360-degree view of biology inside a single sample. Researchers can connect upstream genetic events with downstream metabolic consequences, reconstructing pathways that span from DNA to proteins to metabolites — all while correlating findings with patient outcomes.
Accelerating Biomarker Discovery and Drug Development
For biopharma teams, the implications are profound:
- Biomarker discovery: Identify metabolic markers that predict response, resistance, or toxicity in archived trial material.
- Mechanistic insight: Understand how candidate drugs reshape cellular metabolism or how tumors adapt to therapy.
- Patient stratification: Define metabolic subgroups within diseases to guide precision-medicine strategies.
Because FFPE collections cover years or decades of patient data, they offer a unique lens on long-term outcomes — a perspective often impossible to capture in prospective studies alone.
Static Archives to Dynamic Resources
The utilization of Next-Generation Metabolomics for FFPE studies reframes how we view these specimens. They are no longer static records of past diagnoses; they are living datasets that, with the right technology, continue to yield insight.
Panome Bio’s investment in optimized extraction chemistries, high-resolution mass spectrometry, and robust informatics ensures that every FFPE sample analyzed through TissueBank FFPE Metabolomics meets the highest standards for sensitivity, reproducibility, and depth. Combine this with the capability to provide CLIA-certified analysis, Panome Bio is uniquely positioned to provide high quality multi-omic insights for clinical archives.
Looking Forward
As precision medicine evolves, the ability to connect molecular signatures across genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics — all within preserved clinical samples — will be essential. By applying a discovery-driven platform to the world’s most valuable tissue archives, Panome Bio is equipping researchers with the tools to turn yesterday’s specimens into tomorrow’s breakthroughs.
TissueBank FFPE Metabolomics is more than a new service; it’s a bridge between decades of stored biology and the next generation of translational innovation.