South San Francsico-based Twist Bioscience Corp. and Biotia Inc., of New York, received the first FDA emergency use authorization (EUA) for a capture-based next-generation sequencing (NGS) assay for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. The technique reduces the likelihood of misdiagnosing or failing to identify mutations compared to standard sequencing.
Agilent Technologies Inc. will acquire Resolution Bioscience Inc. for $550 million in cash at closing and up to an additional $145 million based on performance milestones. The deal will expand Agilent’s cancer diagnostics offerings and its presence in next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology for the fast-growing precision medicine market. The acquisition is expected to close in April 2021.
Time is of the essence when treating patients with advanced or metastatic cancer, and diagnostic insights can inform treatment plans. To that end, Exact Sciences Corp. has launched its Oncotype MAP Pan-Cancer Tissue test for patients with advanced, metastatic, refractory or recurrent cancer. From a small tissue sample, the test detects genomic alterations in hundreds of cancer-related genes, helping doctors better depict a patient’s tumor and recommend effective therapies or clinical trials.
Genetron Holdings Ltd., a Beijing-based precision oncology company, has gained breakthrough device designation status from the U.S. FDA for its blood-based, next-generation sequencing test for the early detection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The test, called HCCscreen, is intended for individuals at high risk for HCC due to chronic hepatitis B virus infection or liver cirrhosis.
The Lung Cancer Genomic Screening Project for Individualized Medicine in Asia (LC-SCRUM-Asia) has partnered with Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. to speed molecular profiling in two major studies. The project now uses Waltham, Mass.-based Thermo Fisher’s Ion Torrent Genexus system and Oncomine Precision assay as the sole system for conducting next-generation sequencing (NGS) to improve personalization of therapeutic approaches and better understand drug resistance in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLS).
PERTH, Australia – Australian public health laboratories are collaborating to sequence the virus genomes of all positive COVID-19 tests in Australia to track the virus using genomics across the country. The Communicable Disease Genomics Network (CDGN) and Illumina Inc. will track COVID-19 by using next-generation genomic sequencing technology.
Following days of speculation, Illumina Inc. said today it will acquire liquid biopsy startup Grail Inc. for $8 billion in cash and stock, bringing back into the fold a company it spun out in 2016. The deal gives Illumina a major stake in the race the race to develop a less-invasive way to diagnose cancer. Since spinning out, Grail has raised nearly $2 billion from big-name investors with promises of a blood test for early cancer detection and is hoping to introduce its liquid biopsy as a laboratory-developed test (LTD) as early as next year.
Next-generation sequencing may help provide clinicians with a speedier answer as to the identity of the second pathogen, a service that may prove critical to suppressing the fatality rate in this and in future pandemics, according to Robert Schlaberg, chief medical officer of IDbyDNA Inc., of Salt Lake City.
PERTH, Australia – Australian public health laboratories are collaborating to sequence the virus genomes of all positive COVID-19 tests in Australia to track the virus using genomics across the country. The Communicable Disease Genomics Network (CDGN) and Illumina Inc. will track COVID-19 by using next-generation genomic sequencing technology.
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. released updated software and new instructions for its Taqpath COVID-19 Combo Kit, a widely used COVID-19 test kit that is also the basis for several other coronavirus diagnostics, following issuance of a letter to clinical laboratory staff and health care providers by the U.S. FDA about the risk of false results with the test. Separately, the Waltham, Mass.-based company has released the first in a series of hematology-oncology assays designed to run on its Ion Torrent Genexus system.