January 26, 2017 | News, products, and partnerships from around the diagnostics community including news from Illumina, Mobidiag, Omicia, and more.
Prognos has launched after six years of development as Medivo. Supported by Merck Global Health Innovation Fund and Safeguard Scientifics, the company strives to improve health by tracking and predicting disease earlier in partnership with Life Sciences brands, payers, and clinical diagnostics organizations. Prognos’ innovations enhance the value of laboratory results and clinical diagnostic data through advanced analytics and artificial intelligence techniques. Press release
Illumina and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia are currently recruiting participants for a new study called LeukoSEQ, which will use whole genome sequencing (WGS) as part of the diagnostic process for leukodystrophies. The LeukoSEQ study is designed to evaluate the efficacy and clinical utility of WGS testing as a first line diagnostic tool for leukodystrophies. As part of the study, participants will receive results of a WGS test, performed at Illumina’s CLIA-certified Clinical Services Laboratory in San Diego, within six months of enrollment. The study will absorb the cost of the sequencing so that participants do not have to pay for the sequencing test. In order to be eligible to enroll in the study, patients must have undiagnosed abnormalities of the white matter of the brain, with an “index MRI” (i.e. first suspicious MRI) performed no more than two months prior to study referral. The study team will review medical records and radiology images to confirm study eligibility prior to enrollment. The study is open to all residents of the United States. No site visit is required to participate; blood samples will be obtained locally via the referring physician or primary care provider. Press release
10x Genomics announced they and PerkinElmer will jointly offer automated next-generation sequencing (NGS) solutions. PerkinElmer’s automation solutions increase both the throughput and efficiency of assays, while also allowing researchers to streamline and enhance existing NGS workflows. The 10x Genomics Chromium System features proprietary Linked-Read sequencing technology, which only requires small fragments of DNA (approximately 1ng) to deliver long-range sequence information, perform haplotype phasing and reveal structural genomic variation, as well as other genomic content. When combined with PerkinElmer automated solutions, the 10x Genomics Chromium System can significantly increase the throughput of existing sequencing workflows. PerkinElmer continues to work with industry leaders to develop simple, sequence-verified automation protocols, including 10x Genomics’ Linked-Read technology. These protocols will provide researchers novel options for automated genome, exome and single-cell assay library preparation, enabling the increased throughput and efficiency required to meet the growing needs of today’s life science research community. Press release
Mobidiag announced the CE-IVD marking of Amplidiag Easy, a proprietary system allowing nucleic acid extraction and PCR setup directly from stool samples. The Amplidiag Easy provides users with an automated solution accelerating the sample to result time. As the system runs directly from stool primary sample tubes to PCR setup, no manual intervention is required. Moreover, the Amplidiag Analyzer software can transfer data directly between the Amplidiag Easy and PCR instruments simplifying greatly the overall workflow. Press release
Omicia was selected to join the Cancer Moonshot’s Blood Profiling Atlas in Cancer (Blood PAC) consortium. In joining Blood PAC, Omicia is demonstrating its commitment to advancing cancer genetics research and extending patients’ lives. Omicia is supporting the Cancer Moonshot’s Blood PAC by providing leading clinical informatics tools for the analysis of circulating tumor DNA from liquid biopsy samples. Omicia has extensive expertise in clinical annotation of large-scale genomic data, and currently provides high-throughput clinical genomic reports for Genomics England’s 100,000 Genomes Project and LabCorp. Omicia’s cutting-edge genomic interpretation algorithms have been licensed by over 1,000 clinical laboratories and universities. Press release
Sera Prognostics announced that it has entered into a strategic collaboration with Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LabCorp) to be the exclusive U.S. distributor of Sera’s PreTRM test. PreTRM is the first and only clinically-validated blood test that provides an early and individualized prediction of preterm birth risk. In addition, LabCorp will lead Sera’s $40 million Series C financing. Proceeds from the Series C financing, which includes existing investors, enable Sera to continue building clinical evidence to support reimbursement and insurance coverage decisions, as well as expand commercialization nationwide for the PreTRM test. Sera plans to leverage LabCorp’s market leading position in NIPT, women’s healthcare and reproductive genetics and its nationwide network of 1,750 patient service centers to make PreTRM broadly accessible to physicians and patients concerned about preterm birth risk. Press release